Spain beats Argentina 2-1 in friendly (12 Oct 2006 16:10 GMT)
Xavi Hernandez scored from distance and David Villa added a penalty Wednesday to give Spain a 2-1 friendly win over Argentina.
Villa converted his winner in the 63rd minute after Roberto Ayala fouled midfielder Andres Iniesta, relieving pressure on Spain coach Luis Aragones, who has two losses in three European Championship qualifiers.
"I'm happy for the players. In the first half they created four or five chances. They interpreted what we had talked about perfectly," Aragones said. "It has been said that the players were against me. But I saw the players were happy, perhaps for me."
The veteran coach said he expected to continue as coach.
"The (soccer federation) president is sure and I'm sure too," he said.
Substitute Daniel Bilos scored for Argentina, but coach Alfio Basile still lost his second straight.
"We lost because Spain played better than us. Spain is a very good team. It has respected players who proved so in the second half," Basile said. "I'm responsible for the defeat but there's no drama. I'm building a competitive team."
Argentina has beaten Spain five times in 11 meetings, while the Europeans have won four. They twice played to draws.
Central defender Roberto Ayala equaled Diego Simeone's Argentina record with his 106th appearance.
Aragones was jeered by the crowd of 32,000 when he was introduced before the game, but his team started strong on a difficult field, which cut up easily and detracted from the inaugural match at La Condomina stadium.
Spain, without dropped striker Raul Gonzalez for the second straight game, nearly scored twice in the first 13 minutes.
Bilos then replaced attacking midfielder Maxi Rodriguez, who was injured while attempting a shot.
The visitors took 32 minutes to carve out their first opening, although Lionel Messi angled his shot wide.
Xavi, serving as captain for the first time, put Spain ahead seconds later from the edge of the area. But Bilos converted Messi's low pass from the goal line to equalize two minutes later.
The goals opened up the game and Carlos Tevez and Villa came close for each team before the end of the first half.
The patchy field appeared to prevent Fernando Torres from giving Spain the lead from close range in the 53rd minute, three minutes before the striker was replaced by Luis Garcia.
Garcia then hit the post with a 58th-minute header, and Villa and Garcia had two late goals disallowed for offsides.
Lineups:
Spain: Pepe Reina, Sergio Ramos, Juanito Gutierrez, Pablo Ibanez, Joan Capdevila (Antonio Lopez, 46), Miguel Angel Angulo (Cesc Fabregas, 76), David Albelda (Xabi Alonso, 46), Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, David Villa, Fernando Torres (Luis Garcia, 56).
Argentina: Roberto Abbondanzieri, Pablo Zabaleta, Roberto Ayala, Gabriel Milito, Rodolfo Arruabarrena, Luis Gonzalez (Leandro Somoza, 46), Javier Mascherano, Maxi Rodriguez (Daniel Bilos, 16), Federico Insua, Lionel Messi (Javier Saviola, 61), Carlos Tevez (Sergio Aguero, 71).
source : AP/FoxSports