France 0 - 1 Argentina: Sneaky Ayala

France played Argentina in a friendly on Wednesday, that failed to really deliver as much excitement as it could have. France were bright throughout the game, and attacker purposefully, but were wasteful and lacked an end product. Argentine didn't really have much position, but were very alert and sharp on the counter-attack, and once they took an early lead through Saviola, the game sort of balanced on that premise - France trying to drive forward, and Argentina content to sit tight and attack on the break, and in the end nothing more came of it. 1-0 to the South Americans.

The goal was a mixture of good play, and good luck. Saviola played a lovely backheel for Zanetti to run on to, and he in turn crossed the ball across the face of goal. The ball eventually landed at the feet of Saviola via a few scuffles and rebounds, and he fired it in.

For France, there were good performances, but like I've said already, the team ended up doing nothing, so they didn't count for much. Without Zizou, Thierry Henry is a different player, coming deep to get the ball, creating the play; finally after so many years, Zidane has gone and now it is Henry's France, but what is so ironic is that after so many years of it being Henry's Arsenal, it is now Fabregas's Arsenal, and Thierry's style of play has changed a lot.

But Vieira was a huge presence - style, skill, strength, all combined. Ribery was very lively, but very raw. Sagnol who is supposed to be such a good crosser wasted loads of opportunities. In defence, the inexperienced pair of Squillacci and Escude did OK. Malouda was very good, going forward and combining well, and pitching in all around. Trezeguet, well what can you say about him... he tries hard, and he is a brilliant finisher, but he needs service, and he got none today, so effectively he was useless. Anelka came on as late sub, but did nothing but get a yellow card after getting into tussle because a couple of defenders kicked him. I was hoping Flamini would make his first appearance for France, but he didn't - hopefully he will have more chances.

I didn't really see any outstanding performances from the Argentines - Lucho was everywhere, but had a tough time up against Vieira. Cambiasso was hard-working but ineffective, and Crespo although adept and alert didn't really get any service. It was nice to see Javier Zanetti back in the team, and he was very bright. There was a lot of good play on that side of the pitch with both Zanetti and Malouda working up and down. Saviola did well and showed some nice dribbling throughout the game. Gago was very good, neat touches, a few tricks, and good awareness. Argentina suffered from a lack of width, and to be honest playing 3 defensive/deep-lying midfielders in Lucho, Cambiasso and Gago was always going to make it a drab game.

I'm saving the last word for Ayala. The old guy (who will be joining Villareal in the summer) had a good game, but showed some exceptional streaks of cunning and dirtiness. At one point Henry nutmegged him on the left flank and tried to run past, and wily Ayala blocked him. If this foul wasn't enough, Ayala also cheekily swung his back leg up and around, giving Henry a little kick in the ribs and trying to make it look like it was his running stride. Later, when Anelka was brought down by Heinze (or Milito?), Ayala contributed with a nice little kick on L'Enfant Terrible. Still, his defending was excellent, and he is one of those guys who just reads the game brilliantly. He's old now, and he was never the biggest or quickest defender, so we are seeing the end of him these days.

Good luck to him in his European retirement spell at Villareal. It will be a big, big loss for Valencia for whom he has been such a big character for so many years, and they will really need to sign a good commanding centre-back this summer. Marchena doesn't really look good enough.