Friendly: Portugal Beat Spain Soundly

Portugal embarras Spain in friendly

The first ten minutes included anything else but friendship. At least for Spain’s midfielder Busquets and Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal thwarted world champions Spain 4-0 in Wednesday’s night international friendly at Estadio da Luz. Apart from sharing the same pitch and ball, the two shared also several hits. Seven minutes were gone and Barcelona’s star had been yellow carded after he fouled the Portuguese. Just two minutes later things would turn around. Ronaldo fouled Busquets and was immediately shown the same yellow card as they got even. On the other hand, Portugal was refused an available goal. Ronaldo got into the keeper Iker Casillas box to flick the ball over the Spaniard. Although the ball went clear beyond the line, Nani headed it as the referee disallowed the goal for offside. Frustrated, Ronaldo threw his arm-band.

Neither of the two sides dominated the game, but the Portuguese was the ones to score the goals. After the first was disallowed by the referee, both sides started to put in danger each other’s net, Spain being the one to have the most dangerous attempt on goal in the 30^th minute. Iniesta finds Capdevila smartly on the left to cross into the box. Manchester City star David Silva woke up alone from few yards to head the ball just wide. Paulo Bento’s side replied with the same coin and just seven minutes later, and one after the referee denied Ronaldo’s flick-goal, Meireles appeared alone into the box but his shot is stopped not by Casillas, but Pique who defended from the net line to deflect the ball in corner. There were few of the most electrifying minutes since the first whistle.

However, the first goal came just before the break and after Ronaldo broke into the box. Real Madrid striker is denied by Casillas who saved the shot but deflected it back into the dangerous zone as Martins takes advantage of the deflection to thunder from about 14 yards or so for 1-0. The ice has been finally broken and the half time whistle came. The coaches made three changes each in the 45^th minute. Vicente del Bosque introduced Marchena, Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas, while Paulo Bento called Rui Patricio, Pepe and Danny.

Helder Postiga would provide a double, the Portuguese striker starting to build it just four minutes into the second half. It was a superb combination between Nani, Moutinho and Postiga. Manchester Untied winger found Moutinho into the box, Porto’s star serving Postiga with a perfect cross to make it 2-0. Spain kept trying to come from behind but although they put pressure on the hosts, they couldn’t finalize. Portugal succeeded though to score once again in the 68^th minute, Postiga completing his double by sending Casillas into the wrong way after a wonderful no-look delivery by Moutinho.

Not only did they play perfectly in attack, but Paulo Bento’s squad did a great job in defense, as well. Spain always got closer to the box, even inside, but their attack combination had been immediately broken. Finally, just seconds before the final whistle, Almeida made it 4-0 as the Portuguese couldn’t remind their defeat against Spain at the South African World Cup. Newly entered Pepe finds Almeida into the box, the striker continuing what Postiga began.

France beat England on Wembley

Fabio Capello continues the bad results at England’s helm. The Italian helped Newcastle United striker Andy Carroll make his debut at the national team, but the long-haired could help England too much. The Italian manager still confronts lot of trouble against bigger teams. England qualified for the World Cup and traveled to South Africa as title favorites. Not only that Capello looked unable to lead England through superior phases, but they suffered a shameful 4-1 defeat in front of Germany. It was also Wednesday night that England didn’t show too much, while Laurent Blanc’s squad did.

With Nasri in great form, France defeated England 2-1 in London as Blanc’s confidence on his new team raised. However, the opening came from Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema who combined with Chelsea’s winger Florent Malouda to finish with the left-foot shot past keeper Ben Foster. It was the 16^th minute and France stated to look better. Only one yellow card has been shown throughout the friendly. Jordan Henderson made his debut with it. He was warned in the 49^th minute after he fouled Gourcuff. Minutes later, Malouda delivers from corner, but Rami’s header goes wide.

France started to play a bit more aggressive, thing which led to the second goal in the 55^th minute. Valbuena takes advantage of a poor interception from Nasri that followed Sagna’s cross from the right. He put it past Foster as Laurent Blanc looked more delighted. Indeed, England couldn’t handle in defense, John Terry’s absence having been sensed by everyone. But Fabio Capello paid tribute to the poor defending until the end, even though France didn’t score one more. Part of the disappointment would be healed by Peter Crouch goal. The tallest man on the pitch cut down the two-goal deficit just four minutes before the final whistle, but this was also England’s single one. Even so, they left the pitch with the look into the ground.

Argentina pass Brazil in the Mid-East

Who else but Messi brought the victory for Sergio Batista’s squad in Doha. Although the crowd had to wait until the last minute, they got delighted with a wonderful game between two wonderful sides. On the other side, Mano Menezes started with keeper Victor, defenders Dani Alves of FC Barcelona, Thiago Silva of AC Milan, David Luiz and Andre Santos, midfielders Ronaldinho of AC Milan, Lucas of FC Liverpool, Ramires, who just signed Chelsea this summer, and Elias. Robinho and Neymar tried to come up with the goals, but neither of the two succeeded to do so. Douglas, Andre and Jucilei substituted Ronaldinho, Neymar and Ramires.

Batista, who was called to train the national team after Maradona left, started with keeper Romero, defenders Zanetti of Inter Milano, Pareja, Burdisso and Heinze, midfielders Mascherano, who left Liverpool to play for Barcelona, Pastore, Banega and Messi, while Real Madrid stars Higuain and Di Maria supported the Argentines’ attack. D’Alessandro and Lavezzi, who finally proved to be crucial for the final result, also played as substitutions for Pastore and Higuain.

Leo Messi scored the only goal of the meeting after Napoli striker Lavezzi served the Golden Ball just seconds before the final whistle. The celebration cost him a yellow card, but this didn’t seem to count too much in the end. This was also Messi’s 15^th goal for Argentina, while the head-to-head confrontation between the big rivals goes now 34-33 to the Celests in 90 matches.

Other results:

Burkina Faso 2 – 1 Guinea

Malawi 2 – 1 Rwanda

Mozambique 1 – 3 Zimbabwe

Saudi Arabia 0 – 0 Ghana

China 1 – 0 Latvia

Hong Kong 0 – 7 Paraguay

Montenegro 2 – 0 Azerbaijan

Oman 0 – 4 Belarus

Kuwait 1 – 1 Iraq

Slovakia 2 – 3 Bosnia-Herzegovina

Russia 0 – 2 Belgium

Estonia 1 – 1 Lichtenstein

Albania 0 – Republic of Macedonia

Bulgaria 0 – 1 Serbia

Hungary 2 – 0 Lithuania

Senegal 2 – 1 Gabon

Egypt 3 – 0 Australia

Israel 3 – 2 Iceland

Mali 3 – 1 DR Congo

Denmark 0 – 0 Czech Republic

Luxembourg 0 – 0 Algeria

Switzerland 2 – 2 Ukraine

Austria 1 – 2 Greece

Holland 1 – 0 Turkey

Italy 1 – 1 Romania

Poland 3 – 1 Ivory Coast

South Africa 0 – 1 United States

Sweden 0 – 0 Germany

Northern Ireland 1 – 1 Morocco

Republic of Ireland 1 – 2 Norway

Slovenia 1 – 2 Georgia

On Thursday

Chile 2 – 0 Uruguay

Colombia 1 – 1 Peru

Guyana 0 – 3 Guatemala

Ecuador 4 – 1 Venezuela

Costa Rica 0 – 0 Jamaica

Panama 2 – 0 Honduras

UAE 5 – 0 India11