Uninspired Italy held 1-1 by lowly Luxembourg

 Lowly Luxembourg tore up the --- with a late equaliser in a 1-1 friendly draw with Italy on Wednesday that wrecked the four times World Cup winners' hopes of a triumphant sendoff to Brazil.

Defender Maxime Chanot stunned the home crowd in Perugia with a bullet header from a corner five minutes before the end that cancelled out Claudio Marchisio's smart ninth minute opener, also from a header.

The lacklustre showing against a side ranked 112th in the world will have given coach Cesare Prandelli cause for concern ahead of their opening Group D match against England on Manaus on June 14.

Italy are traditionally poor in friendlies and have a formidable tournament record but the draw against a side thumped 5-1 by Belgium last week meant that the Azzurri head for Brazil without a win in seven games.

Prandelli's side looked extremely uncomfortable defending against set pieces, an unusual characteristic for any Italy team that will give England heart ahead of their clash.

"We have to improve in defence, we weren't great but we are still going to the World Cup knowing we can win," Prandelli told RAI Sport.

Marchisio thumped home the opener after Mario Balotelli laid on a delicious cross with the outside of his boot to leave the Juventus man an easy finish.

But that was as good as it got for the home side, who hit the bar twice early in the second half after substitute Antonio Cassano came off the bench and put a spark into an otherwise drab match.

The Parma attacker's first act after replacing Marco Verrati ten minutes after the break was to slip in Balotelli, who then hit the bar with Chanot and goalkeeper Anthony Moris on their backsides.

AC Milan striker Balotelli then played in his second perfect cross of the night, but Antonio Candreva again hit the bar.

A series of substitutions failed to lift Italy and Chanot punished their complacency by powering home from an inswinging corner and giving Luxembourg their best result against Italy in nine international meetings.

U.S. raise World Cup hopes with 2-1 warm-up win over Turkey

The United States continued their solid build-up to the World Cup with a 2-1 win over Turkey on Sunday, raising expectations of a good showing in Brazil.

Defender Fabian Johnson combined with Michael Bradley to score a superbly executed goal in the first half before Clint Dempsey added a second after the re-start.

Turkey, who failed to qualify for the World Cup, got a consolation goal in the last minute of normal time when Selcuk Inan converted a penalty after Geoff Cameron was ruled to have handled the ball in the box.

Turkey were unlucky not to score earlier when their captain Nuri Sahin hit the post in the first half but had difficulty containing the Americans as the match went on.

Playing in front of a full house at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, the U.S. showed some anxious moments in defence, allowing the Europeans to breach their last line on a handful of occasions, but held firm and looked sharp in attack.

Jozy Altidore had an early goal disallowed for making contact with the Turkish goalkeeper Onur Recep Kivrak before Johnson gave the home team the lead with a spectacular goal in the 26th minute.

Bradley, the heartbeat of the American team, deftly flicked the ball over the Turkish defence into the path of Johnson who hit a perfect left-footed volley into the net for his first international goal.

Dempsey gave the Americans a 2-0 lead in the 52nd minute with a typical poacher's goal, poking the ball in after Kivrak fumbled Timmy Chandler's cross from the left.

Turkey got on the scoreboard in the dying moments after a mix-up in the American defence. Cameron lost the ball to Mustafa Pektemek then failed to get his arm out of the way when the Turkish substitute rifled his shot at the goal to concede a penalty.

The U.S. beat Azerbaijan 2-0 in San Francisco last week and have one more warm-up, against Nigeria in Florida on Saturday, before heading to Brazil.

The Americans are drawn in Group G with Germany, Portugal and Ghana for the World Cup, starting in just over a week.

Germany held to draw by feisty Cameroon

World Cup contenders Germany came from a goal behind to draw 2-2 with hard-working Cameroon on Sunday in their penultimate game before this month's tournament in Brazil.

The Germans, who play Armenia on June 6 in their final warm-up, looked still some way off top form as they seek to end an 18-year title drought, missing several key players including captain Philipp Lahm and first-choice keeper Manuel.

Germany coach Joachim Loew must name his final 23-man squad by Monday's deadline.

Loew's side almost got off to a perfect start when Mesut Ozil, completely unmarked in front of goal, somehow managed to shoot wide seconds after the kickoff.

The Germans, drawn with Ghana, the United States and Portugal in Group G, came close again as attacking midfielder Mario Goetze, playing as a lone striker, sent in a low drive which was turned on to the post by Cameroon keeper Charles Itandje.

Cameroon, playing hosts Brazil, Croatia and Mexico in Group A, had trouble containing their opponents' pace down the wings and needed to wait around 20 minutes before Samuel Eto'o got a shot on target.

A series of tough tackles from the Africans threw the hosts off balance and gave the visitors the initiative.

German keeper Roman Weidenfeller was called into action late in the first half, making a superb save in the 39th minute when Eto'o sent Benjamin Moukandjo clear and he also blocked a close-range Joel Matip effort.

Cameroon stunned the Germans in the 62nd minute when Eto'o's shot was saved by Weidenfeller but the forward was in the right place to tap in a subsequent cross.

Their joy was short-lived, however, with Thomas Mueller charging into the box to head in a Jerome Boateng cross four minutes later and Andre Schuerrle tapping in after a surging run by substitute Lukas Podolski.

But Cameroon refused to lie down and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting confirmed his outstanding form this season with Mainz 05, picking up the ball outside the box and drilling an unstoppable left-foot shot past Weidenfeller in the 78th minute.