By FRANCO PANIZO
Lionel Messi missed a penalty kick and was denied by the post on another chance, but that still do not stop him and Argentina from going into Germany and cruising to victory.
The Albiceleste extended their current winning streak to five games after picking up a 3-1 win over Germany in one of the marquee matches of Wednesday's busy international FIFA date. Sami Khedira scored an own goal just before halftime, and Messi and Angel di Maria found the back of the net in the second half before the Germans grabbed a consolation goal in Frankfurt through Benedikt Howedes.
CONMEBOL's other heavyweight, Brazil, also recorded a big win while Paraguay settled for a disappointing draw with a CONCACAF opponent. The Selecao cruised to a 3-0 victory over Sweden thanks in part to a brace from Alexandre Pato. Paraguay, meanwhile, could not see off Guatemala and they settled for a 3-3 draw at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. after Carlos Ruiz converted a late penalty kick for Los Chapines.
Puerto Rico did not manage to get a result, but they did put forth a valiant effort in a 2-1 loss to Spain. New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Bill Gaudette was one of the main reasons Puerto Rico did not get blown out at home by a near-full-strength Spanish side, making eight saves against the European champions.
Here's a complete list of results from Wednesday's busy international slate:
Albania 0-0 Moldova
Japan 1-1 Venezuela
South Korea 2-1 Zambia
China 1-1 Ghana
Russia 1-1 Ivory Coast
Armenia 1-2 Belarus
Azerbaijan 3-0 Bahrain
Bulgaria 1-0 Cyprus
Luxembourg 1-2 Georgia
Norway 2-3 Greece
Sweden 0-3 Brazil
Ukraine 0-0 Czech Republic
Denmark 1-3 Slovakia
Austria 2-0 Turkey
Croatia 2-4 Switzerland
Hungary 1-1 Israel
Montengreo 2-0 Latvia
Belgium 4-2 Netherlands
Estonia 1-0 Poland
Macedonia 1-0 Lithuania
Slovenia 4-3 Romania
Iceland 2-0 Faroe Islands
Paraguay 3-3 Guatemala
Canada 2-0 Trinidad & Tobago
Costa Rica 0-1 Peru
Ecuador 3-0 Chile
El Salvador 0-2 Jamaica
Mexico 0-1 United States
Germany 1-3 Argentina
Northern Ireland 3-3 Finland
Serbia 0-0 Ireland
Wales 0-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina
England 2-1 Italy
France 0-0 Uruguay
Scotland 3-1 Australia
Portugal 2-0 Panama
Puerto Rico 1-2 Spain
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What do you think of these results? Surprised Argentina won so easily in Germany? Impressed with Gaudette's performance in Puerto Rico's narrow defeat to Spain?
Share your thoughts below.
I share your opinion. I must grab the moment, nevertheless, to ventilate my disgust at the spanish press and at mr. Del Bosque. They don’t understand that this was a genuine opportuniy that we cherished to help spread this sport amongst ourchildren. It is evident that they just came as pirates to take their bounty and leave. We received them with open arms and they just took advantage of our generosity…
Well, for those of you in the Fort Lauderdale area, you missed out on a chance to see Canada beat Trini at Central Broward Community Park, in what appears to be a cricket stadium.
Kahn is always “unloading”. Grain of salt and whatnot…
yup, how the heck is 10 man Germany supposed to get a result against ARgentina. That red card sucked.
lol i live in DC and had no idea there was a game at RFK last night.
There are few players on team PR that are still in college. I didnt see the game but incredible for them
I concede that Strasburg isn’t as dominant as the others in the list – I guess give that 3-4 more years and he will be the best SP in the league
Strasburg isn’t even the best pitcher on his team. And Rodgers (I’ve always been a fan, and was one of the few who didn’t doubt him for a second coming out of Berkeley) is merely one of the great QBs in the NFL; Brady and Brees are certainly his equal, and some would argue for the brothers Manning, Roethlisberger, and maybe even Rivers.
Strasburg doesn’t dominate nearly as much in his sport as others do in their respective sport
Gaudette plays for Puerto Rico? I had no idea. Supposedly Josh Saunders was capped for PR too.
2-1 against España ain’t a bad way to go out.
This loss has caused shock waves in Germany. First, on Monday Jogi Low got all emotional at the pre-game press conference about the loss to Italy in Euro 2012 and the criticism that several German internationals do not sing the national anthem before games and he delivered a 30-minute monologue. And then last night after the game in the obligatory interview on German public TV, former FC Bayern and Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, now a TV analyst, unloaded on Low big-time at what is wrong with the Mannschaft and Low was sweating.
Joachim Löw Interview, Deutschland 1 – 3 Argentinien, 15.08.2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C18RiKhjCg
I’m fascinated that the Puerto Rican goal scorer is a Senior at Providence. Guess college soccer can be good for something (I think the team only had 2 shots — the goal and a free kick in the 90th minute).
I heard that Bill Gaudette was an absolute BEAST in net for Puerto Rico. I’m going to try and hunt down some highlights from that game.
Players who dominate a game like Messi:
Aaron Rodgers for american football
Lebron for basketball
Stephen Strasburg for baseball
Federer for tennis
Phelps (now retired) for swimming
Bolt for short distance track
I think those are the “Messi” athletes for their respective sports
good for Puerto Rico, if there is such a thing as a good loss that is the prime example.
true, but the red to the keeper in the first half ended the game right there. after that everyone knew it was going to be the messi show.
Argentina TROUNCED Germany. Messi is just unreal. Have you ever seen a player simply dominate a game like he does?
It doesn’t matter how bad his team is playing (like the first 20 minutes yesterday), he can literally flip the entire narrative of a match with simply a few touches and some possession.
Amazing to see his transformation now that he’s been given the armband and the keys to the locker room.