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Sublime Messi goal caps Argentine win in France
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-12 10:29 MARSEILLE - Lionel Messi netted a sublime second-half goal to complete a 2-0 friendly win against France on Wednesday, ensuring Diego Maradona maintained his perfect start as Argentina coach.
Newcastle United midfielder Jonas Gutierrez collected a Sergio Aguero cross from the right and fired past France keeper Steve Mandanda to put the visitors ahead four minutes before the interval. But the icing on the cake was Messi's goal seven minutes from time. The Barcelona forward slotted the ball past Mandanda following an impressive slalom through the defence. It was Maradona's second victory in two matches since he took over as Argentina coach last November. "It's extremely positive," Maradona said of the two friendlies Argentina played under his guidance. Maradona, whose named was long chanted by the Marseille crowd before kickoff, started his job with a 1-0 win over Scotland in November but he knew World Cup finalists France would be a tougher nut to crack. "After 20 minutes, my players had possession of the ball and when they do, it's great because we don't have to defend," he said. "I have a fantastic squad. All the tactics we had discussed, the players applied them." Argentina started cautiously in the first half but Gutierrez's strike gave them the confidence to frustrate France. Speed burst The home side were pressing high, with Franck Ribery and Yoann Gourcuff harassing Argentina's defensive midfielders. Real Madrid's new signing Lassana Diarra, who was paired with Lyon's Jeremy Toulalan, was in charge of Messi and he did not let him an inch of space in the opening 15 minutes. In the 16th, the Barcelona forward, with a sudden burst of speed, pierced in the French defence only for his low drive to be deflected by William Gallas. Shortly before the half hour, Gourcuff created space for Nicolas Anelka with a defence-splitting pass but the Chelsea striker was denied by Juan Pablo Carrizo, who was on the spot again to block a Ribery shot three minutes later. However, Argentina went ahead in the 41st minute when Aguero lofted the ball for Gutierrez, who fired into Mandanda's right top corner. Raymond Domenech substituted Anelka with Karim Benzema in the 65th minute but to no effect as Gourcuff and Ribery, who were under the tight supervision of Fernando Gago and Javier Mascherano, could not feed him the ball. In the 81st minute, Aguero made room for Carlos Tevez, whose impact was almost immediate as he launched a counter attack from his own half to set up Messi for his team's second goal. |
