 |
|
||
 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
   |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 Impressive Argentina ready for cup
 Crespo challenges as Argentina claim a final warm-up victory. SPECIAL REPORTSALERNO, Italy -- Central defender Roberto Ayala won his 100th cap when Argentina beat Angola 2-0 in a World Cup warm-up in southern Italy on Tuesday. Winger Maxi Rodriguez put Argentina in front when he netted captain Juan Pablo Sorin's cross from the left after 29 minutes. Twice World Cup winners Argentina, who open their campaign in Germany against Ivory Coast on June 10, went further ahead in the 37th minute when another Sorin cross was deflected in off defender Andre Mateus. Argentina dominated their African opponents, who are going to the World Cup for the first time, and almost scored again in the 75th minute when Rodriguez hit the bar after a fine move involving substitute Lionel Messi. Ayala, who had an untroubled match at the back, is Argentina's third most capped player after Diego Simeone (106) and Javier Zanetti (102). He could set a new record if Argentina reach the World Cup final in Berlin on July 9 and he plays in all seven of their matches in the tournament. Tunisia trebleWorld Cup finalists Tunisia beat Belarus 3-0 in a warm-up match played in Tunis on Tuesday. Roger Lemerre's side dominated throughout and took the lead in the 35th minute when Hamed Namouchi converted a penalty. Brazilian-born Francileudo Santos added a second three minutes after the restart but fans then had to wait till three minutes into injury time before Issam Jomaa scored his side's third. Tunisia will be facing Spain, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine in Group H of the June 9 - July 9 tournament. 
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| © 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
