“Argentina beat Spain at their own game – passing them off the pitch, and finishing chances ruthlessly. Sergio Batista has replaced Diego Maradona as manager, but is not yet certain of the position on a full-time basis. He chose a 4-3-3 system, bringing back Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso, who had both been omitted from the World Cup squad. Ever Banega played in a tight midfield three, whilst the Messi-Tevez-Higuain trio was retained, in a different format.” (Zonal Marking)

Spain put to the sword
“Argentina handed Spain only their third defeat since 2006 after putting the reigning world and European champions to the sword early on in their friendly at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires. Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain, two players who ply their trade in Spain, put Argentina two up inside the opening 14 minutes and Carlos Tevez made it 3-0 in the 34th minute following a costly slip by Jose Reina.” (ESPN)

Spain lose ‘the final that never was’
“See. Even when La Liga Loca is completely wrong, it’s right. While the blog was suggesting that the Argentina v Spain friendly was the flounciest of flimflams, something to tune into if there was nothing better to do of a Tuesday night, a channel-filler during the normal 35 minute blocks of adverts on TV and a chance to swoon at Santi Cazorla’s little hamster face, the Spanish press was happily hyping the game into something that resembled a meaningful game of football.” (FourFourTwo)

Argentina 4-1 Spain – Video Highlights, Recap, and Match Stats – Friendly
(The 90th Minute)