Argentina 2 Angola 0

May 30th, 2006 | by: WC Bob |

After a rough first half in which they gave up a pair of goals, the Palancas settled down a bit but in the end it was Argentina that walked away with a 2-0 victory in a friendly played in Italy. Both teams substituted heavily in the second half. It was encouraging to see coach Goncalves put in Matorras in the 48th minute. Also encouraging to see the team continue to play hard after they went down a couple of goals. The result is disappointing but I think that there will be many positives to take away from the game. Hopefully all of the players have come away from this one healthy and confident they can play with the best teams in the world.

If you saw the game or have some thoughts about it, I would love to read your comments. What did you think about the starting lineup? Is this the team we’ll see in Germany?

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Comments

By World Cup Friendlies Rewind - FIFA World Cup 2006 - World Cup 2006 Blog | May 30th, 2006 at 4:40 pm

[...] Argentina 2 – Angola 0 The result wasn’t what a hardcore Angola fan like myself would have wanted, but in the end the team played with pride and gave itself a few opportunities to get on the board. Maxi Rodriguez and Juan Sorin notched the goals for Argentina. Also worth noting that Lionel Messi and Gabriel Heinze both saw action as they continue to work their way back from injury. [...]

Posted from United States

By DonDadda | May 30th, 2006 at 5:12 pm

We played a horrible game. Our MF is extremely weak. We couldn’t make a decent pass. We kicked the ball forward hoping that someone would catch it…

On the other hand I was happy to see the defense working hard to make some stops. I was impressed to see Edson’s handling of the ball, as well as his posture. He’s a silent killer.

Ze Kalanga showed that he can create some scoring opportunities, but he did not start. I would like to see Figueiredo, Edson, Mateus, and Ze Kalanga as MF starters. I would like to see Mantorras starting with Akwa. Or at least a combo of Akwa+Flavio.

Posted from United States

By Pasha | May 30th, 2006 at 6:00 pm

Thanks for your thought DonDadda. It is at least encouraging that we played poorly but still only conceded two goals. The midfield is something that scares me. Let’s hope they can work on it before the games really matter!

Posted from United States

By DonDadda | May 30th, 2006 at 6:18 pm

@ Pasha: Well, our defenders were pretty agressive, and were able to antecipate a lot of dangerous plays. Kali and Jamba were very consistent in that regard. We should also give J. Ricardo some credit as well. Otherwise we would have lost by 10 or so… no joke.

Coach has to work on the MF… we have to be able to make soft passes on point.

I would like to hear from the rest of the gang. How can we improve our MF? Let’s hear from all of you who watched the game.

Posted from United States

By Dido | May 30th, 2006 at 6:51 pm

I didnt watch the match but I am worried because Argentina controlled the match.I also heard that both goals were from set-pieces. That means we have a problem at marking players. Goncalves has to work on a way to link the midfield to the attack- how can they not make decent passes? I was disappointed with the result but at least we didnt concede more goals.

Posted from United Kingdom

By Joka | May 30th, 2006 at 7:19 pm

I know this is not a good thing for me to say 2 gaols is not bad… we just need to make sure it does not happen in the world WC…. the Coach is a smart man I just do not understand what he is doing…
One Angola

By fab | May 30th, 2006 at 8:55 pm

the goals were not set peices

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3c0gkvC0O0

no worries we won but it was a freindly the whole point was for you guys and us to see what we need to improve on

this is better than it is worse for both teams

Posted from Canada

By Joka | May 30th, 2006 at 9:11 pm

Thanks for that clip …fab… that first goal should have never happened we where a sleep…

One Angola

Posted from United States

By Razzle | May 30th, 2006 at 9:57 pm

I saw the clip on youtube – those goals were excellent goals. I don’t think they reflect badly on team Angola at all – I don’t of too many forwards out there that can create goals the way Argentina did.

The first goal shouldnt have happened because number 18 was not marked. Loose defending, but superb striking. Not too many can effectively connect a ball like that.

The second goal was genius – I ve seen so many wasted chances from that angle and this ones brilliance just made me smile.

I’d say dont feel bad about these. On the other side – Columbia had beaten Argentina 5-0 before the world cup and then crashed out during group stages in 1998(?).

These friendlies really dont mean much anyway.

Posted from United States

By Pedro P | May 31st, 2006 at 5:34 am

Yeah… Just saw the clip, didn’t see the match, but the first goal is a natural consequence of leaving one guy completely alone in THERE. The second goal was unstopable. We can argue the goalie was bad positioned, but he woudn’t get it anyway.

Posted from Netherlands

By Joka | May 31st, 2006 at 6:48 am

What really makes me think is that some of the Argentina playmakers were unmarked… just waking around free… No one should be allowed that freedom so close to our net…

One Angola

Posted from United States

By Kiko | May 31st, 2006 at 9:48 am

Here is what Goncalves had to say about the match
http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia.asp?ID=444540

Posted from United Kingdom

By Kiko | May 31st, 2006 at 9:51 am

I think Mantorras should be in the starting lineup for the game against Portugal.

Posted from United Kingdom

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