Argentina - Australia 1 - 0 (12 Sep 2007 11:30 GMT)
Bayern Munich midfielder Martin Demichelis scored the lone goal of a closely contested international friendly Tuesday to give a star-studded Argentina a 1-0 win over Australia.
Demichelis scored in the 49th minute when he found himself unmarked in the goalmouth and headed home a looping free kick from Barcelona attacking midfielder Lionel Messi near the sideline.
Messi dazzled the 70,000-plus fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with a relentless display of skill and speed until he was substituted one minute into injury time. The man many pundits have dubbed the heir to Argentina great Maradona looked dangerous virtually every time he touched the ball.
"He's always doing things you just don't expect," Argentina coach Alfio Basile said. "He's a player who obviously has immense talent."
Both teams held little back in an attacking first half that failed to produce a goal despite offering plenty of scoring opportunities for both teams.
Australia had two chances of scoring off a free kick in the eighth minute after Archie Thomson was brought down by Javier Macherano just outside the area. Mark Bresciano's first shot sailed over the crossbar, but the referee called for the kick to be retaken, ruling that Demichelis came off the wall early.
Messi eluded two defenders and looked certain to score for Argentina in the 15th minute before defender David Carney cleared the ball into touch. Argentina then failed to convert the resulting corner kick.
Messi looked dangerous again two minutes later when he powered 25-yard shot into the left hand post as a diving Mark Schwarzer fell short.
Palermo midfielder Bresciano again came close to scoring in the 25th minute when he drove a 30-yard spot kick over the heads of the Argentine wall into the crossbar. The ball rebounded off the crossbar into the head of goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri, hit the woodwork again and bounced into his back before finally leaving the field of play.
The two teams continued to play attacking soccer after Demichelis' goal as Australia refused to lift the pressure, forcing Argentina to push for another goal.
Carney almost levelled the scores four minutes after Argentina's goal, when his mistimed long-range cross almost cleared Abbondanzieri, who managed to tip it over the bar.
Argentina is looking to rebuild some confidence ahead of its World Cup qualifying campaign after losing 3-0 to Brazil in the Copa America final in July. The two-time World Cup winners fielded a full strength team against Australia, including Messi, Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez and two-time World Cup veteran Javier Zanetti of Inter Milan.
"It was an extremely important match for us because in mid-October we begin the qualifying tournament for the next World Cup," Basile said through an interpreter. "It gave me an opportunity to bring in a lot of players from Europe and also give debuts to a number of players."
Australia is also keen to re-establish its credentials after being knocked out of the Asian Cup quarter-finals in July by Japan.
"It was just such an honour to see the boys compete against a world-class side like that and push them the whole way," said Australia coach Graham Arnold. "By no means were we outplayed."
source : The Canadian Press