Argentina - Croatia 2 - 3 (2 Mar 2006 07:13 GMT)
Croatia fought back from a goal down to upset fellow World Cup contenders Argentina 3-2 in an entertaining friendly played in Basel (Switzerland).
Leading thanks to a goal from Ivan Klasnic after just three minutes, Croatia quickly found themselves on the back foot following fourth and sixth-minute strikes from Carlos Tevez and Lionel Messi.
However, Barcelona teenager Messi's first goal for Argentina was to prove irrelevant, as Croatia turned things around in the second half with headers from Darijo Srna and Dario Simic.
Srna appeared to have earned an impressive draw after slotting in a cross from Dado Prso in the 52nd minute, but then Simic added the winner two minutes into injury time by nodding home a corner.
"It was a very intense game, five goals, a very interesting game," Jose Pekerman said.
Argentina coach insisted the result would have little bearing on his team's preparations. "It's a bad result for the team but I think they can go on and get better and better."
"I am always looking for a balance between defending and attacking and although it didn't work out tonight I am convinced of the strength of our defenders and believe that what happened tonight cannot happen again." Pekerman told a news conference.
It's 4th Argentina defeat in last 5 games.
Lineups:
Argentina: Roberto Abbondanzieri; Nicolas Burdisso, Leonardo Ponzio, Fabricio Coloccini (Luis Gonzalez, 58), Esteban Cambiasso, Walter Samuel, Juan Roman Riquelme, Hernan Crespo (Gabriel Milito, 75), Carlos Tevez (Pablo Aimar, 68), Martin Dimechelis, Lionel Messi.
Croatia: Stipe Pletikosa; Darijo Srna, Igor Tudor, Dario Simic, Marko Babic, Dado Prso (Mladen Petric, 90), Niko Kovac (Jerko Leko, 83), Stjepan Tomas (Mario Tokic, 45), Luka Modric (Ivan Leko, 84), Ivan Klasnic (Ivica Olic, 75), Niko Kranjcar (Marijan Buljat, 90).
source : CNN, CBS, FIFA