Sweden 2 Argentina 3:Sweden kept Lionel Messi scoreless but still succumbed to Argentina in their friendly in Stockholm last night.
Argentina took the lead in the third minute when Mikael Lustig steered Gonzalo Higuain's shot into his own net, and the Swedes found it hard to get a grip on the game as their opponents retained possession with ease.
Sweden equalised though when Jonas Olsson headed home Kim Kallstrom's corner after 17 minutes, but Sergio Aguero restored Argentina's lead almost immediately with a deft chip.
They went 3-1 up when Higuain was on hand to fire home after Andreas Isaksson could only parry Messi's powerful shot. Sweden pulled a goal back in added time when Rasmus Elm found the top corner with a free kick.
Messi was not short of chances and could have found the net in the second half but Isaksson thwarted him with an acrobatic clearance off the line.
SWEDEN: Isaksson, Lustig (Johansson, 60), J Olsson, Granqvist, M Olsson, Larsson, Svensson (Elm, 60), Kallstrom (Wernbloom, 77), Kacaniklic (Durmaz, 77), Ibrahimovic (Ranegie, 46), Hysen. Subs not used: Nordfeldt, Bengtsson, Nilsson, Safari. Booked: Wernbloom.
ARGENTINA: Romero, Garay, Campagnaro, Zabaleta (Ansaldi, 60), Federico Fernandez, Gago (Ever, 68), Di Maria (Montillo, 46), Mascherano, Higuain (Di Santo, 90), Messi, Aguero. Subs not used: Alvarez, Coloccini, Augusto Fernandez, Rinaudo, Peruzzi, Gaitan, Andujar. Booked: Aguero.
Referee: Anthony Dauvergne
