Well it had to come to an end at some point. And in what style! Carlos Marchena had gone 57 matches unbeaten in Spanish colours, a record that began way back in June 2003. But a dazzling first half performance from Argentina put pay to the Sevillanos hopes of making it 58, as the Argentinian Liga select helped the home side into an early 2-0 lead in what was billed as 'The World Cup final that never was'. Lionel Messi opened the scoring with a sumptuous chip, Higuain notching the second with a typically well-taken strike after rounding the stranded Pepe Reina. Things got worse for the Liverpool keeper when he slipped at just the wrong moment whilst receiving a backpass, allowing little battler Carlos Tevez to steal in and scramble the ball home. 3-0 and the game was done and dusted. Spain improved in the second half and got a late consolation through Fernando Llorente, but Sergio Agüero regained Argentinas three-goal cushion with a well placed header in the final seconds of the match.
Del Bosque certainly didn't name a first choice select, with Casillas, Puyol, Sergio Ramos, Capdevila, Torres and Xavi all on the bench, whilst Argentina came out with all their stars on show, but even so Vicente will have been worried with a lacklustre opening 45 minutes. In truth, nothing went right for La Roja, David Villa striking the woodwork twice in his search for that elusive 44th international goal and Santi Cazorla suffering the same misfortune later on. Pepe Reinas slip pretty much summed up their luck. Best for these things to happen in friendlies rather than World Cups and qualifiers.
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