Spain continued their international winning streak with a win over Argentina yesterday, during a weekend of international friendly matches.
Xabi Alonso capitalized on a deflected shot from David Silva and a penalty kick. Leo Messi scored from the penalty spot as well, though it proved insufficient for the South American side. Iniesta, Villa, and Villa filled in the striking positions, in front of Busquets, Xabi Alonso, and Xavi, with Puyol, Sergio Ramos, Pique, and Joan Capdevila on defense.
Argentina started the game with Messi and Higuain up front, followed by Mascherano, Angel di Maria, Maxi Rodriguez, and Fernando Gago. The defense was composed of Coloccini, Demichelis, Ansaldi, and Gabi Heinze, with Sergio Romero in goal.
All in all Spain dominated the game, but were unable to capitalize other than Alonso's two penalty kicks. Romero and Casillas showed solid goal-keeping, though the former was the much more tested of the two. David Silva and David Villa both had numerous close-range shots on goal that either went slightly wide or were easily collected by Romero.
This game didn't count for anything, but it did bring into harsh light how much work still has to be done with Argentina before next summer, which is the same amount of work they've had to do during their entire qualification campaign. Spain showed some rough patches but overall had a much smoother game than Argentina, who mostly had to play catchup with Spain's lightning-quick passing.
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