Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria let a 3-0 lead slip away as they were edged out 4-3 by Holland in a seven-goal thriller.
Andreas Ivanschitz gave the hosts a shock lead after five minutes before twice setting up Sebastian Prodl from two corners to put Austria three goals in front.
Holland responded through Klaas-Jan Huntelaar before the break, and second-half strikes from Johnny Heitinga, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Huntelaar again sealed the win.
Austria had the crowd out of their seats five minutes after the kick-off when Ivanschitz opened the scoring with a close-range finish.
And in the 18th minute the Dutch were caught out at the back again as Austria scored a second. Ivanschitz again had a hand in it as from his corner Sturm Graz youngster Prodl got above the Dutch defence to head the hosts two goals in front.
Again Marco van Basten's side failed to respond and on 35 minutes the hosts scored again with an almost carbon copy of the first goal. Ivanschitz swung in a corner and Prodl headed home.
But the third goal finally sparked life out of the visitors, and they pulled one back within two minutes.
Huntelaar connected with Van Persie's outswinging corner to hammer home a left-footed shot from the right of the penalty area.
Van Basten sent on Clarence Seedorf and Wilfred Bouma for Joris Mathijsen and Demy De Zeeuw. But still Holland had to wait until the 67th minute for their next goal - Heitinga firing home from six yards.
By now Holland were well on top, but still went into the final 10 minutes of the game trailing 3-2.
Van Basten threw on Vennegoor of Hesselink with 11 minutes left, and the Celtic forward levelled the scores within four minutes of his introduction with a long-range shot that curled into the net.
A Dutch winner now seemed inevitable, and it came in emphatic fashion when Seedorf played the ball to Huntelaar 25 yards from goal, and the Ajax ace buried his shot with a fierce right-footed drive.
Substitute David Villa netted a late winner as Spain edged out Italy 1-0 in a friendly in Elche.
Valencia striker Villa, who replaced Fernando Torres at half-time, took advantage of Fabio Cannavaro's poor clearance by firing in a left-footed volley which flew past visiting goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon with 13 minutes remaining.
The Azzurri are looking to follow up their World Cup triumph with the title at Euro 2008 this summer but it was Spain who looked the more likely side to triumph in Austria and Switzerland this summer with a dominant display at the Martinez Valero Stadium.
Mario Gomez enhanced his claims for a starting place at Euro 2008 with a second-half brace as Germany claimed an emphatic 4-0 victory in Switzerland.
The Stuttgart striker struck twice in the space of six minutes as Joachim Low's men gave the European Championship co-hosts a lesson in cool finishing.
Miroslav Klose had given the visitors the lead in the 23rd minute before Bayern Munich club-mate Lukas Podolski rounded off the rout in the dying minutes.
Alexandre Pato stole the show on his international debut, scoring the only goal of the game as Brazil saw off Sweden in a friendly at the Emirates Stadium.
The 18-year-old had been on the pitch barely 10 minutes when he capitalised on a mistake by substitute Sweden goalkeeper Rami Shaaban to score.
It was the highlight of an entertaining performance from the South Americans, for whom Werder Bremen midfielder Diego also shone.
With 72 minutes gone and the rain pouring down in north London, Pato announced himself on the international stage in style.
Anderson played the ball down through the right-hand side of the area and keeper Shabaan, on as a half-time substitute, attempted to clear.
But he could only strike the ball against Pato, who reacted quickly to curl a right-foot shot into the empty net from an acute angle.
Romania gained a morale-boosting 3-0 victory over fellow Euro 2008 finalists Russia in Bucharest on Wednesday.
Victor Piturca's side dominated throughout and took a deserved lead on the stroke of half-time through Ciprian Marica.
Daniel Niculae made it 2-0 17 minutes after the restart and Marius Niculae completed the rout with 15 minutes to go.
Turkey, who will also be in Austria and Switzerland this summer, needed a 71st-minute goal from Tumer Metin to salvage a 2-2 draw against Belarus in Minsk.
Vitaly Kutuzov and Tuncay Sanli traded first-half goals before a Vyacheslav Hleb strike restored the home side's advantage after 64 minutes.
But Metin grabbed a leveller for Fatih Terim's men with 19 minutes to go.
New Ukraine coach Alexei Mikhailichenko got off to a winning start as his side beat Serbia 2-0 - Andriy Shevchenko and Serhiy Nazarenko grabbing the goals.
Michael Mifsud scored five times as Malta enjoyed their highest-ever win by thrashing Liechtenstein 7-1, Stanislav Genchev netted a last-minute winner as Bulgaria beat Finland 2-1 while Mirnes Sisic got the only goal as Slovenia won 1-0 in Hungary.
John Carew scored but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation as Norway went down 3-1 in Montenegro.
Igor Burzanovic, Branko Boskovic and Radomir Djalovic all netted for the home side.
Reigning European champions Greece ran out 2-1 winners in a replay of the Euro 2004 final against Portugal in Düsseldorf.
The Greeks took control with a goal in either half from former Benfica midfielder Giorgos Karagounis, before Nuno Gomes pulled one back for the hosts with 14 minutes remaining.
Fellow Euro 2008 hopefuls Czech Republic were held to 1-1 draw by Denmark.
Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner put the Danes ahead after 24 minutes, but Karol Bruckner's side levelled just before the break with a headed goal from Jan Koller.
Poland suffered a setback in their preparations for Austria and Switzerland with a 3-0 defeat at home to the United States.
Fulham defender Carlos Bocanegra opened the scoring after 12 minutes and Oguchi Onyewu made it 2-0 before the break before Derby's Eddie Lewis added the third with 17 minutes left.
Morocco scored twice in each half to run out 4-1 winners over Belgium.
Soufiane Alloudi and Tarik Sektoui put Morocco two goals ahead before Axel Witsel pulled one back for the Belgians.
Nabil El Zhar and Abdessalam Benjelloun scored in the last five minutes to complete the rout.
Sergio Aguero and Nicolas Burdisso scored as Argentina beat African champions Egypt 2-0 in Cairo.
Atletico Madrid forward Aguero carried his good La Liga form onto the international stage by scoring his second goal for the national side after capitalising on a mistake by Egypt defender Hani Said in the 66th minute.
Inter Milan star Burdisso sealed the victory with a goal five minutes from time.
Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien turned from hero to villain to set Mexico on the way to a 2-1 victory over Ghana at Craven Cottage.
Essien had fired Ghana ahead with a superb 55th-minute strike into the bottom left corner for his eighth goal in 38 appearances for Ghana.
But the 25-year-old, operating in an advanced playmaking role, then put goalkeeper Patrick Antwi under pressure with a weak backpass in the 77th minute that panicked the stopper.
Antwi still had time to clear, however, but he took too long and his kick ricocheted of the leg of PSV Eindhoven defender Carlos Salcido who had time to steer the ball home.
The comeback was complete five minutes from time when Adolfo Bautista was sent tumbling by Eric Addo and referee Rob Styles pointed to the spot with Pavel Pardo converting.
