21.50 Portugal defended pretty well all night, largely through the presence and intelligent positioning (and sheer brute force, let's be frank) of Bruno Alves. So we will sign off with the central defender celebrating his side's last-gasp goal with his goalkeper, Beto. Thanks for your company tonight. So sorry about the technical issues that caused the first-half hiatus and the second-half sabbatical from regular updates. Good night.
Full time Argentina barely had time to kick off before walking off towards the tunnel. Either side could have smashed and grabbed the victory after a rather woeful second half. The multiple substitutions, as ever, took the sting out of the contest as constant regroupings were required and rhythm was killed. The first half wasn't exactly a classic but there were some flashes of brilliance from the Portugal No7 and the Argentina No10. Gaitan, who replaced Lionel Messi, was the best player in the second half but Portugal, with Nani and Quaresma, squandered the most attacking ball.
ael Guerreiro stoops to conquer (PA)
GOAL!! Argentina 0-1 Portugal (Guerreiro) And they've won it with
virtually the last touch of the game and would you believe it, the hitherto
struggling Qauresma won the ball on the right, spanked in a vicious cross
and the substitute left-back met it perfectly with a diving header aned
buried it past Guzman from 10 yards.
90 min Another free-kick for Portugal about 30 yards from goal and Quaresma can't clear the first line of defence.
89 min Fizzing near-post cross from Portugal bounces towards Eder who meets it at a stretch, knocks it into the keeper and ground then back off his own arm wide.
85 min Argentina break after Quaresma is denied a foul he thinks he won on the edge of the box when he crumpled at a defender's touch. It ends up at the edge of the other box as Martin Atkinson puts some distance between himself and the protesting Quaresma. Silva looked for Tevez with a threaded pass but got a second bite when it bounced off a defender's shins.This time he does pick out Lamela who shifts the ball on to his left foot and flashes a shot that Portugal beat back.
83 min Quaresma takes it, a dreadful hybrid of chip and shot, that Argentina clear with the contempt for the effort it deserved. My, Qauresma. What a spiral his career has been on.
82 min Nani wins a free-kick when tripped on the left 30 yards or so out. he is going to take it hismelf, with his right foot, curls it low to teh edge of the box. Rubbish. To his credit he sprints in to close down the rebound and is fouled by Lamela to win another 35 yards out again. Lamela gets a booking for that.
80 min Tevez looks to jink through the left of the box but Bosingwa and Bruno Alves squeezed him out.
77 min That was Tiago's final warning and was heeded by the Portugal manager who takes him off and sends on Bill Carvalho.
75 min Martin Atkinson comes down with a big dose of friendlyitis when Tiago, who already has a yellow card, crunches into Biglia. That should have been red.
74 min Pastore and Ansaldi go off. Silva and, I think, Pereyra on.
72 min Pastore through the middle and approaching the box sends a pass out deep on to the left wing by the corner flag. Lamela thumps in a cross to the back post where Gaitan gets up but because he was well-challenged he manages more vertical force than horizontal power so it balloons harmlessly away
71 min I like Biglia and all midfielders who wear the No5 shirt. He barrels his way through the middle and, just as he was about to draw huge approval ratings for dropping his shoulder and passing Gomes, he fell over.
70 min The crowd goes wild ... at the initiation of a Mexican Wave.
69 min Mascherano decides to have a drive down Route One with a pummeled diagonal cross from the right to the back stick.
67 min Nani is channelling Norbert Stiles here, barging Roncaglia out of the way and givinbg away a free-kick. The cross is pinged across the box and ends in safety though not before Bosingwa, AKA Boswinga by some typists, had a fly-kick that could have gone anywhere.
65 min Lamela's first touch was a hopeful but skilful scooped pass over a line of Portugal defenders on the edge of their box that caught the back four square but the keeper came out to stop Gaitan stealing in.
64 min We're back. Sincere apologies for the intermission. A desk has been kicked. Not a person. An inanimate object.
61 min Double substitution for Argentina. DiMaria does go off now, and Higuain. Tevez and Lamela on. Tevez is booed.
59 min Rasping curled shot from Di Maria from 20 yards, palmed down by Beto.
55 min Di Maria and Gomez chase a ball down the middle, Alves coming round on the cover to see him off. As Di Maria meets the grass face first Louis van Gaal must be wondering when he’s going to be substituted.
53 min Rafa Benitez is spotted in the crowd prompting the mischievous MUTV commentator to suggest Liverpool may have a vacancy for him soon.
50 min The heat has gone out of the game. Higuain though threatened to make it ignite again but just jumped the gun on the left of the box when he made his run on to a through ball (and skewed his shot anyway at the sound of the whistle).
47 min While we wrestle with the IT issues, the system's reliability having possibly departed in protest at the exit of Ronaldo and Messi at half-time, the substitute Eder has, you guessed it, header that he wastes.
46 min We’ve crashed. Ronaldo and Messi are off at half time. Bother x 2 plus something that rhymes with galls. Quaresma on for Danny, Eder for Ronaldo, Gaitan for Argentina.
20.40 Hand contact but no eye contact. Hmmm
.
Half-time That was an interesting first half in terms of attacking intent from both sides. Clearly Argentina made the better openings, through Messi and Pastore, and could have had a couple of more clearcut chances if Higuain had not tried too much to emulate a Messi or Ronaldoesque flick. He would be a good person to ask in the Messi v Ronaldo debate. Playing up front with both men for club and country. It was a fairly dramatic first half for this correspondent too. Line-up confusion courtesy of the Portugal manager's prerogative and "have you tried rebooting it"? Hopefully we'll have a smoother ride in the second half.
45 min Ansaldi ignites his jet fuel, hares up the left and bashes in a cross that Beto smothers. Peeeeeeeeep!
44 min I've always enjoyed a man who makes the words Serie A polysyllabic. Well done Terry Gibson.
42 min Another Portugal corner taken by Nani results in some penalty area pinball. Ronaldo sniffs a half-volley chance on the turn, swivels blind and boots Biglia right on the kneecap. Ronaldo immediately bends down to apologise.
41 min Tiago Gomes goes on a rare attacking foray, beats Roncaglia and gets to the byline where he spins in a cross that Guzman catches after palming it to the turf at his feet.
40 min Nani takes it towards Bruno Alves who heads it into Messi.
38 min Pastore is playing well as he promised to do for years, travelling through midfield and taking the ball up to the edge of the Portugal box. He feeds Higuain who lazily miscues his back-heel and sets Portugal off on a counter at pace tow in a corner.
35 min Pepe concedes possession with a rash crossfield pass that forces Ronaldo to wrestle with Roncaglia and give away a free-kick. Messi takes on Tiago Gomes on the right but this time the left-back wins the battle.
33 min Argentina win a free-kick 20 yards out when Moutinho copies Ansaldi's foul and follows him into the book. Messi takes, goes for power, larrups a rising shot from the right of the D that flies over the wall but continues its trajectory beyond the bar.
30 min Ronaldo earns a free-kick wide on the right when Ansaldi trips him and is booked. It was a rather tame trip for a yellow card, but then Ronaldo did go flying. Nani drives across to the back post and Argentina scarmble it clear.
26 min Nani takes a free-kick on the right after Andre Gomes is fouled just inside the Portugal half, tapping back to the man who won it. He tries to go crossfield and surrenders possession to Messi who sets off on a run up the right, plays in Roncaglia on the overlap and he fizzes a cross towards the pnalty spot. Pastore leaps to meet it and heads it meatily and low but Beto gets down well to block.
23 min He's sprinting about now, Di Maria, but plays a terrible back pass that almost puts his side in trouble on the right side of their defence shortly after Biglia hit a lovely cross that Higuain didn't do justice.
21 min Di Maria gets up after lengthy treatment and eventually comes back on.
19 min Angel Di Maria is down on the turf and has been for a minute after Nani went in on his standing foot (his left), studs on metatarsals. The camera hones in on Louis van Gaal, who doesn't look very pleased.
17 min Wonderful backheel from Ronaldo sets Portugal off on a counter attack. The lack of replays on this feed make me think it was a backheel rather than that famous heel chop. Anyway Portugal can't benefit from his skill.
15 min Argentina are roasting Tiago Gomes at left-back, overloading him with Messi and Biglia pushing up with Roncaglia flying up the outside. Corner to Argentina, Di Maria curling it too close to the keeper.
13 min At last, after a farcical few minutes, the revised and accurate Portugal team sheet is handed in and is as below. I feel like Bobby Chariot. Mi neeeerves.
10 min Good work on the right from Messi and he jinks across the box, shooting horizontally across goal.
9 min The official team list released by the agency has Rui Patricio in goal for Portugal but it's Beto who comes out to claim a whipped cross from Di Maria on the run from the left.
8 min Nani swings in the free-kick from the right towards the far post but Argentina clear. Mascherano is also roundly booed, his crime his years at Liverpool.
6 min Messi combines with Di Maria to send a shot fizzing wide of Beto's right post. Portugal break from the kick-off and Otamendi brings down Danny by putting his arm around his chest from behind. Free-kick wide on the right, 22 yards from goal.
4 min Sorry for the delay between updates but the television feed is back on here at Casa Telegraph. It's all Portrugal. Please note the late line-up changes below.
1 min Argentina pass it around at the back after Portugal's kick-off and Messi is booed when he takes his first touch.
19.45 Peace in our time
19.38 MUTV's Terry Gibson says that the r
eception here for Cristiano Ronaldo will help to persuade him to return to Manchester United. Really? He knows how United fans feel.
19.37 What occasion would be complete without a "mug me I'm a tourist" half-and-half scarf?
19.30 MUTV is treating us to a compilation of Cristiano Ronaldo's goals for Manchester United. Gary Pallister and Bryan 'Nobbo' Robson are purring.
John McEnerney enters into the spirit of the occasion
I'd have to plumb for Carvalho, he's won plenty of trophies & he's helped
some of the finest thugs in the game to perfect the dark arts of defending
JT, Pepe & Ramos his star pupils. In saying that he was a top class
defender at his peak, solid, relaxed, great timing, tough and a not a bad
reader of the game. Won't go down as a great but he was good.
19.15 Here are your teams:
Argentina Guzman; Roncaglia, Otamendi, Demichelis, Ansaldi; Mascherano, Biglia, Pastore; Messi, Higuaín, Di María.
Portugal Beto, Bosingwa, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Tiago Gomes; Andre Gomes, Joao Moutinho, Tiago, Danny, Nani, Ronaldo.
18.55 Good evening and welcome to our coverage of Argentina v Portugal from Old Trafford. That’s right: Argentina v Portugal – you know, two of the aristocrats of the international game – the double World Cup winners and 2014 beaten finalists v the country that finished third in 1966, runners up at Euro 2004 and semi-finalists at Euro 2012. Because you would be forgiven for thinking that we were about to witness the world’s first 1 v 1 international football match between him off the crisps and Pepsi ads taking on the Castrol And Nike poster boy. A clash of styles, a clash of personalities, a clash of cultures. Cue the appropriate apocalyptic theme (with the worst Konstantin Chernenko lookalike in history).
Is football, though, really divided into two tribes of Ronaldoites and Messiphiles? I seriously doubt it other than for the traditional and worthy reasons of hating Barcelona or Real Madrid. The rest of us can appreciate the magnificence of both and keep our counsel in public debate over whom we think the better because it’s an argument barely worth the bother and should not always frame meetings between the two for club and country. Never mind the puerile proposition that one or the other is the greatest player of all time, an assessment that can only be properly made at the end of their careers and unlikely to be resolved in their favour until they have won a World Cup virtually singlehandedly on rutted pitches while the opposition take it in turns to determine whether their tibia or fibula will shatter first.
That’s a roundabout way of saying there is more to this than the Argentina No10 versus Portugal’s No7, captain v captain, the great Cristiano Ronaldo v the great Lionel Messi. Look at the supporting cast: William Carvalho, Eder, João Moutinho, … erm Nani, Sergio Agüero, Gonzalo Higuaín, Carlos Tevez (returning to the colours), Ángel Di María et al. Each side also has a new manager since the World Cup – Tata Martino for Argentina and Fernando Santos, who took Greece to Brazil, in charge of the Court of St James's oldest ally.
Each arrive at Old Trafford on the back of victories, Portugal defeating Armenia 1-0 on Friday (Ronaldo’s tap-in making him the highest goalscorer in European Championship history) while Messi scored the decisive goal from the spot in Argentina’s 2-1 win over Croatia at Upton Park.
The two sides have played each other seven times, Argentina winning five including the last three years ago, Portugal one. That’s a record that Portugal need to redress and, given that Argentina have played only friendlies and exhibition matches since the World Cup final, it will be interesting to see whether Portugal’s players, more battle-hardened by recent competitive experience, can overcome superior talents who are rusty in international terms.
