Spain V Argentina Preview: Football International Friendly

Spain vs Argentina

14th November, 2009

Estadio Vicente Calderon, Madrid

Kick-Off: 20:00 GMT (21:00 CET)

Spain

The Estadio Vicente Calderon in Madrid plays host to a battle of the football titans in Saturday night's Spain vs Argentina friendly match.

The match will showcase two of football's greatest talents, who after having successfully qualified for the 2010 World Cup, will be able to put their attentions towards building a competitive squad ahead of next summer's competition in South Africa.

Qualification for Spain was an absolute breeze, with the Euro 2008 Champions winning all ten of their matches against the likes of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Belgium, Estonia, and Armenia.

Spain scored 28 goals and conceded only 5 in their qualifying campaign, which illustrates the dominance that Spain has displayed heading into this clash with Argentina.

David Villa was the top scorer in the qualification campaign, with seven goals. And with manager Vicente del Bosque naming a strong side for this Argentina match—including the likes of Villa, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, and Cesc Fabregas—the Argentinians will certainly find themselves battling a strong Spanish squad in superb form.

Argentina

Whilst qualification was a breeze for Spain, reaching the World Cup was a rather more uphill battle for Argentina, with the South Americans coming within a match of missing out completely on South Africa.

Diego Maradona's men had to wait until their final match of the qualifying campaign to be assured of a spot in next summer's football competition, with an 84th minute winner by Mario Balotti enough to overcome Uruguay and secure the final automatic South American qualification spot.

Argentina won eight, drew four, and lost six of their eighteen matches in what was overall a disappointing performance from a side that was expected to join Brazil at the top of the table with ease.

Still, the side will want to put the campaign behind them and instead focus on the lead-up to the World Cup. A positive performance in Saturday's match against Spain would certainly do wonders for the Argentinians' confidence, which at this point may be needing a lift.

With seven of the players named in Argentina's squad already playing in the Spanish La Liga (Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Fernando Gago, Maxi Rodriguez, Nicolas Pareja, and Diego Perotti), many of the players will be familiar with their opposition, something which can only be a positive for the visiting side

Prediction

The last—and only—competitive Spain-Argentina meeting came back in 1966, which was before even Diego Maradona's playing career.

However, the two teams have met in a total of 10 friendlies, with both sides winning four and drawing two apiece. The last such friendly was back in 2006 in Murcia, with Spain triumphing by a scoreline of 2-1.

The home advantage, superior form, and greater overall confidence all suggest that Spain should enter this match as favourites, in what promises to be an extremely exciting clash featuring some of the world's greatest football players.

Spain vs Argentina Prediction: Spain 2 - Argentina 1

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And check out our other weekend previews with England vs Brazil, Ireland vs France and Italy vs Netherlands in some great international action.