The world's best striker Lionel Messi accomplished his responsibility as the captain helping Argentina down its Latin American cousin Venezuela by a solitary goal in a FIFA international friendly here on Friday.
A crowd of about 70,000 filled the giant Salt Lake Stadium to see the ruling deity of world football make an appearance.
The FC Barcelona icon did not disappoint his fans as he played the entire 90 minutes and helped Nicholas Otamendi find the winner with a finely set corner in the 67th minute.
Good start
Being the first outing for the Argentine national team seeking redemption under new coach Alejandro Sabella with Messi as skipper, the beginning looked good. The victory could have been bigger, but for some good work by Venezuela skipper Rafael Romo, who thwarted two good attempts by Messi and one from Gonzalo Hugain.
Sabella's attempt at re-invoking the flair that made the two-time World Cup champion one of the best attacking combinations in the world, reflected in the way the experienced coach tried a new combination of players to get the best out of Messi.
The challenge looked stiff as Venezuela, known for defensive orientation, packed men at the back to check the threat of the Argentine sorties. The novelty seemed to start at the defence as the Argentine coach pinned his hopes on a new combination of Martin Demichelis, Marcos Rojo and Otamendi.
The 30-year-old Demichelis, who plays for the Spanish club Malaga, proved good checking the thrust and speed of the Venezuelan attackers — Frank Feltscher and the veteran Jose Rondon.
Timely challenge
Demichelis's best came in the 16th minute when he produced a timely challenge on Rondon, who came threateningly close to the Argentine goal receiving a chip from Feltscher.
Venezuela, the surprise Copa America semifinalists, seemed to take inspiration from their recent performance and put up a tidy show dwelling on effective counterattacks. As the big gathering lent their cries for their favourite Messi's Argentina, there were moments of silence as Feltscher, Rondon and Cesar Gonzales sought their chances to finish the Venezuela attacks.
The teams:
Argentina: Sergio Romero, Marcos Rojo, Nicolas Otamendi, Martin Demichelis, Javier Mascherano, Pablo Zabaleta (Federico Fernandes 78th minute), Ricardo Alvarez (Javier Pastore, 17th), Luis Gonzales (Jose Sosa, 69th), Angel Di Maria, Lionel Messi (capt.), Gonzalo Hugain (Sergio Aguero, 73rd).
Venezuela: Rafael Romo, Gabriel Cichero, Fernando Amorebieta (Andrez Tunez 85th), Oswaldo Vizcarrondo, Roberto Rosales, Nicolas Fedor, Angel Flores, Tomas Rincon (capt.), Cesar Gonzlez, Jose Salomon Rondon, Frank Feltscher (Yohandry Orozeo, 69th).
The result: Argentina 1 (Otamendi 67) bt Venezuela 0.
