Bellamy double opens Toshack reign
 |  Bellamy turns away after scoring as Wales give Toshack a winning start |
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CARDIFF, Wales (Reuters) -- Craig Bellamy scored twice as Wales gave new manager John Toshack a winning debut with a 2-0 victory over Hungary in a friendly on Wednesday.
The striker, loaned to Celtic by Newcastle after falling out with manager Graeme Souness, put Wales ahead with a free kick in the 63rd minute.
He curled his shot inside the three-man wall and under goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly and added his second 10 minutes from time.
Bellamy ran onto a neat flick on by midfielder Simon Davies and powered a shot from the right that went through Kiraly's legs and crept over the line.
Wales midfielder Carl Robinson hit the post in the first half, while West Bromwich Albion striker Zoltan Gera had Hungary's closest chance when he clipped the crossbar just before halftime.
The Welsh have now won five of their last six friendlies, including a 2-1 win away to Hungary in March, and will be hoping this victory injects new purpose into a poor World Cup qualifying campaign.
Wales are fifth in Group Six with two points from four matches. They next have a double-header against Austria at home on March 26 and away four days later.
Hungary, fourth in Group Eight with six points from four qualifiers, meet Bulgaria next at home on March 30.
A first-half goal from Newcastle's Andy O'Brien gave the Republic of Ireland a deserved 1-0 win over a lacklustre Portugal in a friendly at Landsdowne Road.
A hard-working Ireland team scored the only goal in the 21st minute after Portugal's Paulo Ferreira fell in the goal-mouth leaving the way open for O'Brien to chip home.
Ireland's steely defence was hardly tested in the first half as relentless pressure from the home side, and from Chelsea forward Damien Duff in particular, stifled Portugal's creativity.
The Irish will take comfort from the match for their next World Cup qualifier against Israel on March 26, while Portugal will need to improve for their match in Slovakia on March 30.
Canada beat Northern Ireland 1-0 in an international friendly Wednesday despite playing for 68 minutes with 10 men.
Gabriel Gervais was sent off after 22 minutes for picking up two yellow cards in two minutes.
Northern Ireland's George McCartney had a shot hit the post before Canada took the lead with its first attack of the game in the 32nd minute.
Jim Brennan's free kick was headed into goal by Oliver Occean.
Belgium, who have made a faltering start in their bid to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals, suffered a further blow to their morale when they were thrashed 4-0 by Egypt in a friendly in Cairo.
