Jose Fonte had an international debut to remember as he helped Portugal to a famous victory over Argentina.

The showpiece friendly at Old Trafford saw both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi up against each other for the first half, before a series of substitutions at the break.

One such change saw Saints skipper Fonte come on for Pepe to win his first cap at the age of 30.

The game was goalless until stoppage time when Raphael Guerreiro popped up with a winner.

Fonte’s performance came in for praise as he showed the same calm and composure at the heart of the Portugal defence as he has done all season for Saints, which has helped Ronald Koeman’s side to an enviable record of just five league goals conceded thus far.

His cap will have provided a particular pleasure for Saints supporters as Fonte is the latest in a line of players to have made the journey from League One through to the top flight and international stardom with the club.

As if further proof were needed that Saints players just don’t like conceding goals these days it was added by Florin Gardos who played the full 90 minutes for Romania and was in familiar form as he kept a clean sheet.

Romania scored two goals in the space of six second half minutes through Claudio Keseru to secure a 2-0 win over Denmark in a friendly in Bucharest.

Saints defender Maya Yoshida did let one in but still completed a fine week with Japan, helping his country to a 2-1 win against Australia.

Following last week’s 6-0 win over Honduras, the Samurai Blue enjoyed another Kirin Challenge Cup victory in Osaka.

Yoshida, who scored the opener against Honduras, played the entire game against Australia, with Japan’s goals coming from Yasuyuki Konno and Shinji Okazaki.

Former Everton forward Tim Cahill netted a header in added time to give the Socceroos a consolation.

Shane Long had to settle for starting on the bench as the Republic of Ireland hosted the USA in a friendly in Dublin.

However, he was introduced on 77 minutes in place of former Saints striker David McGoldrick.

He had an immediate impact as he hit the post but the fact it didn’t go in made little difference to the final score as Ireland won the game 4-1.