Allyuh see Catalonia beat Argentina 4-2 in the Nou Camp
Report:
BARCELONA, Spain - Johan Cruyff enjoyed a successful return to coaching as Catalonia earned a 4-2 victory over World Cup-bound Argentina on Tuesday.
Sergio Garcia, Bojan Krkic, Sergio Gonzalez and Moises Hurtado all scored to earn Cruyff a win 13 years after his last coaching appearance on the sidelines with Barcelona.
Assistant Hector Enrique led Argentina with coach Diego Maradona unavailable due to a FIFA ban. Angel di Maria and Javier Pastore scored for the visitors at Camp Nou, with Maradona among the 53,000 spectators after being forced to buy a ticket and watch from the stands.
Argentina was without FIFA Player of the Year Lionel Messi and injured striker Sergio Aguero. Enrique opted to use mostly European-based players with Gonzalo Higuain, Di Maria and Martin Demichelis among the starters. Catalonia fielded a lineup heavy on Barcelona players including Xavi Hernandez, Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique.
Garcia headed Catalonia into the lead just before halftime, the Real Betis striker receiving from Joan Verdu to beat Diego Pozo.
Barcelona striker Krkic made it 2-0 in the 56th before Argentina countered in the 63rd when Pastore beat goalkeeper Victor Valdes with a long-range free kick.
Nicolas Pareja fouled Ferran Corominas inside the area for Gonzalez to step up and score Catalonia's third goal. Then Di Maria, Argentina's standout player, made it a one-goal game in the 72nd by converting Ezequiel Lavezzi's pass.
Hurtado cemented the win by scoring three minutes later.
Cruyff, who led Barcelona from 1988-96 after several seasons at Ajax, works as an adviser to Barcelona, whose players returned only Tuesday from their Club World Cup win three days ago in Abu Dhabi.
Catalunya, like other Spanish regions such as the Basque Country, competes in friendlies against international teams but isn't permitted to play in official competitions.
Maradona was relegated to the stands after being banned for two months for an expletive-filled rant at a news conference during World Cup qualifying in October.
