Argentina wins, Brazil slumps
Print Edition
Gonzalo Higuain and Ever Banega scored as Argentina extended its unbeaten record against Italy to four matches with a 2-1 win over the Azzurri, while Brazil was handed a 0-1 loss by Switzerland in another friendly on Wednesday.
Brazil’s 11-match unbeaten run came to an end as Dani Alves scored an own goal with a header into the top-left corner.
The last time Italy and Argentina met was in 2001 — also a friendly in Rome that Argentina won 2-1. Before that, Diego Maradona’s Argentina eliminated host Italy from the 1990 World Cup on penalty kicks in a semifinal in Naples.
Playing without Lionel Messi, Argentina defended well and was in control most of the time in a match dedicated to Pope Francis. Higuain put Argentina in front in the 20th minute and Banega doubled its lead four minutes into the second half before Lorenzo Insigne pulled one back with his first goal for Italy.
World Cup host Brazil had won its six previous matches, including five at the Confederations Cup to win the warm-up event in June.
Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari’s team was last beaten in February, 1-2 away to England. The unbeaten streak ended in Switzerland where it began in March when drawing 2-2 with Italy in Geneva.
In Belfast, in the only World Cup qualifier played on Wednesday, Martin Paterson’s first-half goal gave Northern Ireland a surprise 1-0 win over Russia, preventing Fabio Capello’s team from leapfrogging Portugal at the top of Group F.
Portugal hosted the Netherlands in a friendly, and Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 40th international goal to help his team draw 1-1 after Kevin Strootman had put the visitors ahead in Faro.
In other high-profile matches, Rickie Lambert celebrated his England debut in style at the age of 31, scoring the winner in a 3-2 win over Scotland, Germany salvaged a 3-3 home draw against Paraguay and France ended a three-game losing streak by drawing 0-0 with Belgium.
In Stockholm, Zlatan Ibrahimovic produced another one-man show, scoring three goals as Sweden defeated Norway 4-2 while Spain’s latest transatlantic trip saw it beat Ecuador 2-0 in Guayaquil.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
