Messi in action last night against Guatemala

Despite accusations from the Spanish Tax Authorities that Lionel Messi owes millions in unpaid taxes, Argentina’s inspirational captain led his side to a comfortable 4-0 win last night in Guatemala. Plundering a hat trick himself, Messi moved to second on the list of Argentinian goal scorers, ahead of Diego Maradona and Hernan Crespo and now only trailing Gabriel Batistuta. The friendly also offered manager, Alejandro Sabella the opportunity to test out several of the squad players, including the recently called-up Erik Lamela, who was a half time substitute in place of Sergio Aguero. Naturally, as a friendly the game tells us not much more than we already knew but the fringe players that came in performed well and showed perhaps a greater strength in the squad than Argentina are given credit for. Guatemala are not the greatest of opponents but Fabricio Coloccini, Augusto Fernandez and Lamela showed what they could add if called upon. SEE THE HIGHLIGHTS HERE….

Argentina team that faced Guatemala:

Mariano Andujar

Hugo Campagnaro
Fabricio Coloccini
Jose Maria Basante (replaced by Javier Mascherano ’64)
Clemente Rodriguez

Augusto Fernandez
Pablo Guinazu (replaced by Ever Banega ’71)
Lucas Biglia (replaced by Rodrigo Braña ’46)

Sergio Aguero (replaced by Erik Lamela ’46)
Lionel Messi (replaced by Rodrigo Palacio ’68)
Ezequiel Lavezzi (replaced by Walter Montillo ’79)