Subject :ROME -- An Argentina side without Lionel Messi beat Italy 2-1 Wednesday in a friendly match honourin
ROME -- An Argentina side without Lionel Messi beat Italy 2-1 Wednesday in a friendly match honouring Pope Francis. Nike Roshe One Nere E Bianche . Gonzalo Higuain put Argentina in front in the 20th minute and substitute Ever Banega doubled its lead four minutes into the second half before Lorenzo Insigne pulled one back with his first goal for Italy in the 76th minute. Higuain, Napolis new signing, was one of several Argentina players currently in Serie A. Pope Francis is an avid football fan, who comes from Argentina. He met the teams in the Apostolic Palace on Tuesday. AC Milan and Italy striker Mario Balotelli missed the match with an injury. Both he and Messi returned to their respective clubs Tuesday night. The last time the teams met was in 2001 -- also a friendly in Rome that Argentina won 2-1. Before that, Diego Maradonas Argentina eliminated host Italy from the 1990 World Cup on penalties in a semifinal in Naples. "We met a team of great quality, one of the best in the world," Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said. "We made mistakes coming out of defence and started badly, but then we did well. "We lacked that grit and finish around the penalty area, but the team did well. Honor to Argentina, it is a very strong side." The match was also used to promote peace and camaraderie in sport and to that end both teams had been staying at the same hotel and had travelled to the Stadio Olimpico together. Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon and his Argentina counterpart Javier Mascherano also planted an olive tree in a temporary pot after the national anthems, as a sign of unity. The tree will be kept in the Vatican gardens. All that had little impact on the teams competitiveness on the pitch, as the match was fast-paced right from kickoff. Italy had a good chance early on as Daniele De Rossi collected the ball in his own penalty area and dribbled downfield before lifting an accurate long ball to release Pablo Osvaldo. However, Argentina goalkeeper Mariano Andujar rushed out to clear the danger. It was Osvaldos first match back since being kicked out of the Confederations Cup squad for insulting his club coach at Roma -- a breach of Prandellis strict code of ethics. The Roma striker was born in Buenos Aires. Argentina went even closer two minutes later as Higuain raced into the area but Giorgio Chiellini got in a perfectly timed tackle to clear the ball for a corner before the former Real Madrid player could unleash a shot. Chiellini, who was celebrating his 29th birthday, also headed the resulting corner out to safety. Argentina took the lead after Italy lost the ball in midfield and Erik Lamela picked out Higuain, who was given too much space in the box by De Rossi and Verratti and he curled a shot into the right hand side of goal. Italy started looking more dangerous, especially down the right flank, and almost took the lead in the 39th minute. Antonio Candreva put in yet another cross from the right, but Claudio Marchisio -- seemingly surprised to find himself completely unmarked -- failed to connect from a meter out. Argentina should have doubled its lead on the stroke of halftime when Rodrigo Palacio slid in, in front of an empty net, but didnt connect properly with Angel Di Marias cross and blazed the ball over the crossbar from close range. Argentina did so shortly after the restart. Higuain rolled the ball across to an unmarked Banega following a swift counter attack, and the halftime substitute drilled a low shot into the bottom left corner. Argentina could have extended its lead in the 56th minute when Palacios ball was parried by Federico Marchetti -- who had come on for Buffon moments earlier -- but only as far as Higuain. However, Marchetti got back up swiftly to palm away his effort and De Rossi cleared the danger. Italy almost grabbed one back but Andujar did well to tip Alessandro Diamantis free kick onto the crossbar. The rebound was eventually bundled into the net by Candreva, but he was clearly offside. The hosts did reduce the deficit in stunning fashion. Osvaldo touched the ball onto Insigne and, with his first touch, the 22-year-old lifted the ball perfectly into the top right corner from 25 yards. It was Inisgnes second game for Italy. "It was a wonderful sensation to score," Insigne said. "I always try those shots and it went well tonight. "It was a wonderful feeling to meet the pope, I got goosebumps because it doesnt happen every day. I still need to fully realize it happened." Nike Flyknit Lunar 2 Bianche . -- New York Yankees centre fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was sent for an MRI Thursday of his ailing right calf, which was negative. Nike Roshe One Rosa . At Manchester United, Ferguson developed Beckham into one of the worlds most recognizable sportsmen, but the midfielder left United in 2003 for Real Madrid under a cloud after his relationship with the manager broke down.The NHLs Mar. 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Check out todays trade-related reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. And follow TSN.ca through Deadline Day for all the updates. Rafas All-Out? The Montreal Canadiens may be in the thick of the Atlantic Division playoff race but that might not mean they wont look to move some players out before the deadline. The Montreal Gazette speculates that defenceman Raphael Diaz could be a contract casualty before Mar. 5, as the Swiss puck-mover is a pending unrestricted free agent. Diaz – who has 11 assists through 46 games this season could get priced out of Montreal, whose top priority of the summer will likely be getting P.K. Subbans name down on another contract. No Jackets Required The Columbus Blue Jackets enter Saturdays games with a hold on the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division, despite having none of their players listed amongst the NHLs top 50 scorers. Could that pave the way for them to add an impact scorer before the deadline? The Hockey News speculates that the Jackets – a team with good depth bothh on their NHL roster as well as in their prospect pool – could be a team to watch on the trade front in the coming weeks. Nike Free 4.0 Flyknit Uomo. The Jackets have one of the NHLs deepest prospect pools and could potentially afford to part with their first round pick in Junes draft, netminder Oscar Dansk or even one of the three players they took in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft like Alexander Wennberg or Kerby Rychel in search of the right offensive upgrade. Hockey News Writer Ken Campbell warns, however, that with a team performing at such a high level (see: their current eight-game winning streak) as a collective may be best left as it is. Do the Bart Man The Bruins could still be looking to upgrade their D in the wake of the season-ending injury to Dennis Seidenberg last month. Bruins Insider Joe Haggerty believes that the Bs could be dangling 25-year-old blueliner Matt Bartkowski in efforts to bring in a veteran D-man, such as the Ottawa Senators Chris Phillips or the New York Islanders Andrew MacDonald. Bartkowski is no stranger to the rumour mill, however, as he was reportedly part of the package the Bruins offered up just a year ago in efforts to get Jarome Iginla out of Calgary. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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