Top Stories

Wednesday Kickoff: Argentina routs World Cup holders Spain in friendly

MessiGetty

The stakes might have been minimal, and the lineups might not have been at completely full strength for both sides, but Argentina showed that there's a different way to defeat Spain other than by playing ultimate defense.

Argentina put on an impressive attacking display, and received some assistance from Spain keeper Pepe Reina in the process, defeating the defending World Cup champions in Buenos Aires, 4-1, in an international friendly Tuesday evening. The loss was only the third for Spain since the 2009 Confederations Cup and was unlike La Furia Roja's previous losses to the United States and Switzerland.

Lionel Messi opened the floodgates in the 10th minute, and Gonzalo Higuain followed with Argentina's second goal three minutes later. Carlos Tevez took advantage of an awful Reina slip-up to make it 3-0 prior to halftime. Fernando Llorente got Spain on the board late in the second half, but Sergio Aguero responded with the final tally at the onset of second-half stoppage time.

For what it's worth, three of the four players that scored for Argentina play for clubs in Spain. Here are highlights of the match:

What did you think of the match? Think Sergio Batista should shed the interim tag and become Argentina's full-on manager?

Share your thoughts below

Comments

  1. Definitely not an apologist for the Spaniards, but had Casillas been in goal (and a few starting midfielders actually playing instead of being on vacation or wherever they were during this match) this game would have had a much different outcome.

    Not saying Argentina didn’t win the game fair and square, but I think calling it a full-on beat down needs a bit of a disclaimer: How many starters from WC2010 were on the Spanish side?

    Reply
  2. Im sure Argentina would have prefered the World Cup title, over a 4-1 friendly victory over a reserve filled squad, that had just arrived a day earlier after a 14,000 kilometer commute, but I could be wrong? People relax, when Spain gets beat in an official match with their full squad we can talk, until then lets relax. Is Bolivia better than Aregentina since they humiliated them 6-1 in their last match?

    Reply
  3. You want the United States to emulate the development strategies of a country one third its size in geographic area and one eighth its size in population? How, exactly, do you propose such a thing? South American and European identification and developmental strategies are not suited to nations as enormous as the United States – both in population and area. Seriously.

    Reply
  4. To say Argentina was unlucky to go out against Germany is whitewashing the issue with the Argentine team–unless you meant they were unlucky to have drawn Germany. Mexico exposed the suspect Argentine defense by providing enough quality in the midfield to get ball forward, though they were unable to maintain their composure and finish. Germany followed suit with midfield quality and prolific scorers who could finish. A similar result would have been likely if the Argentines drew the Dutch or even Uruguay (though a bit less likely here). That being said, they are an exciting side to watch, and I hope they address these defensive issues so I can consider them a serious contender for 2014. Until that’s done I can’t picture them beyond the quarterfinals.

    I feel you are spot on with the rest of your comment, though. A deeper CONCACAF will be of an immense benefit to the US and Mexican sides, particularly since it seems that opportunities for those two to play each other in competition are now limited.

    Reply
  5. Between World Cups I like to think of the World Cup trophy as a sort of World Championship title belt a la boxing/WWF. So, to me, Argentina are now the World Champions until someone beats them.

    Reply
  6. i have to say no one really dominated, especially when you look at the stats:

    Shots (on Goal) 7(6) 22(4)
    Time of Possession 47% 53%
    Yellow Cards 4 4
    Saves 3 2
    Goals 4 1

    To be fair, Spain appeared to forget how to finish. They certainly dominated shots, but putting it on frame is what matters.

    Reply
  7. More importantly… that first goal was nasty. Obviously we’ve come to expect such things from Messi, but that chip was ridiculous.

    Reply
  8. excuse excuse excuse…blah blah, I watched the game Argentina was much better. Yes Spain is the best team in the world, but it was not yesterday.

    Reply
  9. Good thing Torres didn’t play. He would have just been injured. Llorente is quite a viable option for Spain. He’s their no3 striker, well no4 i suppose if you figure in Pedro but doesnt Pedro play as a winger primarily?

    Reply
  10. Spain used a sorta 2nd string lineup with some of their world class players and had traveled so far in just a few days to play an away friendly. Argentina had their full WC squad and played to a home audience and were hungry and with mistakes from Espana, they won. Good for the Argies. The Spanish were slightly embarassed but they were more so embarassed when the USA beat them 2-0.

    Reply
  11. Portugal like Holland punches above its belt considering its size. Portugal in the last decade has had several world class players. Reached semi-finals of the world cup 06

    Reply
  12. I did watch the game. Did you? how many shots on goal did Spain take in the first half? 2-3? Like I said, the only time they had the ball was after they were down 3-0 and Argentina let them have it. By then the game was already over. You can use any excuses you want. I’m just stating the facts as a neutral fan.

    Reply
  13. The biggest hurdle Argentina had at the WC was Maradonna. The guy was a joke. Although I think Spain was not really motivated and looked jet lagged, Argentina could see what could have been with a competent coach!!

    Reply
  14. Spain got ran off the field by Argentina. The only time Spain had the ball was after Argentina went up 3-0 and let them have it. After Spain scored one goal Argentina responded immediately by scoring one more. That’s dominance

    Reply
  15. Its true that wasn’t Spain’s A side however in this sport dominance is dictated by the scoreboard more then anything else. You can’t dominate a game you loose 4-1

    Reply
  16. Spain played with only 5 starters against a full strength Argentina side, who viewed this match as a vindication match in front of their fans, while Spain used it as what it was a friendly and played 19 players, while Argentina only made 3 subs. Not to mention Spain had a match on Saturday and traveled 14,000 kilometers to play a match in Argentina. As far as the guy who said Spain 1-0 victories isnt perfection of soccer, you must not know much about the sport as Spain plays the best football in the world, and the score lines were 1-0 as teams were playing 10 men behind the ball to try to limit Spain. Im not gonna get carried away with a loss by Spain, in a match where they had the majority of the ball, hit the post 3 times, had 5 or 6 clear goal attempts, the difference was Argentina scored on the only 4 chances they had.

    Reply
  17. Since 1998, France has 1 WC title, 1 Euro title, and 1 World Cup Final. Not too shabby I would say. They have been the crop of Europe.

    Sure they’re some horrid 1st round exists along that time as well, but France has definitely a dominant this past decade, contrary to Portugal for instance who hasn’t won a single title.

    Reply
  18. I hate that second goal. From the angles given, it looks like higuain could have made an easy pass for an incredibly easy tap-in, but instead decided for trickery and to risk a much more difficult shot in order to score himself. I hate that.

    Also, I’m glad Spain lost. If a bunch of 1-0 pass-exercises qua match is the perfection of soccer, I’d rather watch baseball.

    Reply
  19. France should be in for a shout too!

    I think a bigger fall from grace is a story about Hungry and Austria – two dominate countries in the early part of soccer’s history, now purely footnotes.

    Reply
  20. I think it is more important to talk about the stunning losses by teams that ought to be powers but continue to under achieve… Looking at you Czech Republic and Portugal…

    Reply
  21. Argentina is a great side. They were unlucky to go out against Germany, because they had been the form team of the tournament before that loss. The US and Mexico would be well served to emulate their training and development strategies. I say the US and Mexico, because I’ve come to believe that our fortunes are intertwined as the two biggest countries in CONCACAF. Lets hope that El Salvador, Honduras, Trinidad, etc. develop into a bunch of Uruguay like programs, and that some day in the not so far future North American football can have the class both Spain and Argentina show (of course, I’ll stick with our current keepers). From Panama City, to Guadalajara, to St. Louis, we’ve got the human capital in CONCACAF, its just a question of getting our player development right.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Sven Cancel reply