Home   >   MOTDs   >   MOTD: Argentina 0-1 Portugal

MOTD: Argentina 0-1 Portugal

By on November 18, 2014

It was officially a meaningless international friendly, but promised so much more.  Cristiano Ronaldo facing Lionel Messi, unquestionably the two best players in the world over the past eight or so years, coming together at Ronaldo’s former home, Old Trafford.  What the match delivered, however, fulfilled none of its promise.  It was, in the end, a meaningless friendly and was played like one.  The only goal that came, in stoppage time, would have been a sweet winner for Portugal if it hadn’t been rendered rather empty by the nature of the match.  By that time Old Trafford was nearly half empty and those who did stay cheered more out of relief that they could go home having seen some entertainment than the fact that they actually cared that Portugal had taken the lead.

The fact that eleven substitutes were made also help tell the story. Both Ronaldo and Messi were brought off at halftime, effectively ending the biggest storyline the game offered, before it produced a goal. Messi wasn’t as invisible as Ronaldo, even grazing the post once, but along with the rest of the players on the pitch looked like they knew no matter the scoreline the match held no import. It was the usual complaints about international friendlies; a lack of effort from both sides, and injuries, regarding which, none serious occurred in the match but Old Trafford was given a scare when the only Manchester United player on the pitch, Angel Di Maria, went down and barely hobbled off the pitch after a minute or two.

Thankfully, though, he went back on, as he was a clear bright spot in the match, to the delight of the local fans. Eight minutes in, he sent a twenty-yard curler inches wide of the bottom left-hand post, while Messi got in behind the Portugal defense down the right and grazed the far post soon after. Argentina were largely dominant, though it still felt like the match was being played at half-pace the whole time. Ronaldo lost the ball the first two times it came his way, and overall was poor. He wasted his one chance of the match, sending a ten yard effort over the bar after latching onto an attempted Argentina clearance.

The next chance of note came a half hour in, as Javier Pastore’s header forced Portugal goalkeeper Beto into work, and thirty-four minutes in Messi again came close, only to see his free-kick whip just over the crossbar.

Yet if it felt like the scrappy match were building momentum during the first period, that thought would be erased come the second. Portugal made three halftime subs, and Argentina one, Ronaldo and Messi both making way. By the time Raphael Guerreiro came on for Tiago Gomez fifty-one minutes in, the fifth substitute in six minutes, the crowd was basically silent. Gonzalo Higuain had a golden chance in the early parts of the second half as Di Maria found him completely unmarked on the left side of the box, only to take slightly too big of a touch when rounding Nahuel Guzmán and failing to convert. And Higuain too would be taken off for Carlos Tevez, who was also poor despite making his return to the national team earlier in the international break.

The wave would go round the stadium, in bid to entertain the fans and perhaps spark the players to life, and did so six times but died in vain. The rest of the second half was slow, sloppy, and quite frankly a unconvincing display of the talents on hand. Portugal’s goal in stoppage time was the biggest bright spot in a poor match. Raphael Guerreiro headed home from a cross from the right.  While the match was played like a friendly, it could have been much more, as proven to those who chose Scotland vs. England tonight.
Man of the Match: Angel Di Maria

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.