Messi, Di María and Agüero come off the bench and combine for the second goal
Argentina finished their World Cup preparations in Argentina with an easy 2-0 victory over Slovenia in La Plata. An excellent first half goal by Internazionale’s, Ricky Álvarez and a simple Lionel Messi finish after the break gave La Albiceleste another relatively easy days work. There was a worry as Lucas Biglia limped off in the first half and Lionel Messi vomited on the pitch again but we also got a glimpse of a potential star of the future. Despite not being in the 23-man-squad, River Plate youngster, Emanuel Mammana came on to earn his first national side appearance before he turns out for River.
Given how many top players have been injured in the recent international friendlies, Alejandro Sabella took no chances in naming his starting 11 against Slovenia. Messi, Di María, Agüero, Higuaín and Garay were all missing from the lineup and it gave a number of the fringe players a final opportunity to impress.
It was Ricky Álvarez who seized this opportunity early when his forceful run in the 11th minute ended when he crashed the ball past Vid Belec in the Slovenia goal from outside the box. It was an excellent goal and a reminder of just why Sabella kept him in his 23.
Another looking to impress was Lazio’s, Lucas Biglia but his match was to end early when he was forced off through injury after only quarter of an hour. The initial diagnosis seems that this was just precautionary but with Sabella already waiting on the fitness of Rodrigo Palacio he will want to avoid any further disruptions.
Javier Mascherano is already assured of his starting place but the Barcelona midfielder appeared to celebrating the signing of his bumper new contract with a standout performance in the middle.
Much like the Trinidad and Tobago match last Friday the match had that lackadaisical friendly feel to it. The second half was brought to life by the quadruple substitution that saw Lionel Messi, Angel Di María, Sergio Agüero and Fernando Gago enter the fray. Immediately the attack had a little more urgency and despite Messi once again vomiting on the pitch, as he has done on numerous occasions before, the captain still got himself on the score sheet.
The substitutes combined as Di María chipped ball over the top was nodded by Agüero into the path of Messi who coolly slotted the ball past Belec.
The rest of the game was only really noticeable for the arrival of River Plate’s 18-year-old defender, Emanuel Mammana. The youngster is not part of Sabella’s 23-man-squad but has been with the development training in Ezeiza. The youngster has still not played for River’s first team but now has his first Argentina cap, mirroring the progress of Javier Mascherano.
Argentina strolled to full time and will now prepare to fly to their base in Belo Horizonte on Monday. Provided everyone is fit, the names in Alejandro Sabella’s side for the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina are clear and as Messi said in his post-match interview “the serious work starts.”
golazo argentino 