Aguero, Pastore push Argentina past Ecuador; Venezuela top Peru
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. --
Sergio Aguero and Javier Pastore scored in each half and Argentina defeated Ecuador 2-1 in a friendly match Tuesday.
In a lively game under snowy conditions at the start, Argentina managed to get another win in its round of tuneups in the United States ahead of the Copa America in June.
And Argentina did it without having to use its star Lionel Messi, who watched from the stands at the Meadowlands. He also sat on the bench in the 2-0 victory against El Salvador in Landover, Maryland.
The Barcelona star took a knock in the Spanish league `clasico' against Real Madrid, just prior to the international matches and missed several training sessions this week with the national team.
Argentina opened the scoring in the eighth minute when Aguero nodded a header on a corner from Angel Di Maria from the left.
Miller Bolanos equalized for Ecuador in the 24th minute, finishing off a pass from Walter Ayovi from the left wing.
Pastore sealed the win in the 58th minute after a pass from Lucas Biglia.
Elsewhere, Josef Martinez scored in the 60th minute to give Venezuela a 1-0 victory over Peru in an exhibition Tuesday night.
Martinez, a striker with Italian Serie A club Torino, took a pass from Salomon Rondon, dribbled toward the right side of the Peru penalty area and sent a low shot that eluded Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese and rolled inside the far post.
Christian Cueva had Peru's best opportunity at the tying score in the 82nd minute but Venezuela goalkeeper Alain Baroja slid and deflected Cueva's point-blank shot just outside the 6-yard box.
Both teams had minimal runs on goal early until Peru's Jean-Carlos Deza split two Venezuelan defenders and found an opening for an uncontested shot in the 21st minute. Baroja cut Deza's angle and stopped his attempt from 22 yards.
Rondon failed to head Alejandro Guerra's centering pass from the right wing in the 27th minute for Venezuela's best scoring opportunity of the first half. The teams used the match as a tuneup to Copa America from June 11- July 4 in Chile. Peru and Venezuela both will compete in Group C along with Brazil and Colombia.
The match, before a crowd of approximately 13,000 at Lockhart Stadium, was the first for new Peru coach Ricardo Gareca. A former head coach in the Brazilian, Argentine and Peruvian first divisions, Gareca took over the national team on March 2.
