Argentina vs. Croatia: Winners and Losers from International Friendly

Argentina turned things around to beat Croatia 2-1 at Upton Park, where a fortunate Sergio Aguero strike and Lionel Messi's penalty earned victory after the South American side had fallen behind early on.

Anas Sharbini stunned the World Cup runners-up with a cool finish to put a much-changed Croatian XI ahead after just 11 minutes, but Argentina hit back with two goals early in the second period.

First Aguero deflected in a Cristian Ansaldi effort with his elbow to equalise, and then he won a penalty which Messi converted against the side against which  he scored his first-ever international goal.

Ex-West Ham man Carlos Tevez received a huge ovation when he came on for his first international appearance in three years, and he'll have been delighted his side hung on for victory.

Here are some winners and losers from Wednesday's friendly match.

Winner: Lionel Messi

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As we’ve seen before, Lionel Messi doesn’t like to be rested for any football match, and he showed here that he really loves to turn it on whatever the occasion.

Like the rest of his team-mates, it may have taken him a while to get into the game, but once he did, he was everywhere and ended up being pretty unfortunate that his only goal on the evening came from the penalty spot.

He hit the post with a close-range effort late on, but he could have already had two or three goals before that. There was no suggestion that he was here to take it easy, and he once again showed just why he is one of the greatest talents the world has ever seen.

Winner: Sergio Aguero

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When you’re in the form that Sergio Aguero is in, you simply keep finding new ways to score goals.

As we saw when he got a little lucky with one of his strikes at Queens Park Rangers at the weekend, Aguero is on a hot streak which seems to include him using his arms to help gain an advantage.

His goal here certainly shouldn’t have stood, as he stuck out an elbow to deflect Cristian Ansaldi’s shot into the net. It’s not quite going to assume “Hand of God” status in Argentina football history, but it definitely arrived at a nice time.

Loser: Angel Di Maria

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Having arrived into this international break with the criticisms of Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal ringing in his ears, Angel Di Maria would doubtless have hoped to dazzle the Upton Park crowd and play himself back into form.

He wasn’t terrible, but a failure to consistently link up with Messi and Aguero in the first half hindered an Argentina side who were struggling for rhythm, and this won’t have been a performance to restore any dipping levels of confidence.

He’s still a fantastic player obviously but just appears to have dipped below the level we saw from him at the tail end of last season and in his opening weeks at Old Trafford.

Winner: Anas Sharbini

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The career of Croatia’s goalscorer Anas Sharbini is something of a strange one. He was winning his second cap for his country here, coming five years after his first.

Formerly considered a bright young talent in the Croatian squad when it was managed by Slaven Bilic, Sharbini was in the provisional squad for Euro 2008 and played in a qualifier for the 2010 World Cup, but a varied club career which took him to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia affected his international chances.

Now back at first club Rijeka, he used this occasion to score a fine goal in the first period and showcase his talents to current coach Niko Kovac, who must now consider him for the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

Losers: Croatia’s “Senior” Players

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Despite defeat, Croatia can be proud of their performance on an evening when coach Niko Kovac opted to rest the likes of Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic and Dejan Lovren ahead of a Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy at the weekend.

All of those players will surely go straight back into the side, of course, but others will be less sure of their places following a match in which the Croatians showcased their strength in depth.

That will be the key positive for Kovac, who saw a side containing two 18-year-olds more than hold their own in the second half, and when you’re top of their European Championship qualifying group with three wins from three, then that must be a comforting thought for the coach.

Winners: West Ham

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The venue for this game might have surprised many, but perhaps it shouldn’t have done.

After all, West Ham are riding high in the Premier League at the moment, and they made for fitting hosts on a night when Carlos Tevez returned to the Argentina side for the first time in three years.

The ovation Tevez received when he came on just after the hour mark was a terrific one and was the highlight of a night when Hammers fans will have enjoyed themselves and the feel-good factor currently surrounding the club will only have strengthened.