Sweden meets Argentina at Friends Arena (Part 1)

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Sweden takes on Argentina - 1 of 35

Last night Sweden meet Argentina at the newly construction Friends Arena in a friendly game. Unlike the arena’s super exciting inaugural game when Sweden meet England (Part 1 & Part 2) this game was pretty lack luster and low key. I guess it was to be expected. We are in the peak of the European football season and no one wants to get injured in a friendly that does count for anything.

Before I even got onto the pitch I caught a glimpse of a fan being escorted out of the area. He had ran onto the pitch before the match even begun.

Unfortunately he would not be last pitch invader of the evening.

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When I got settled on the side of the pitch I placed myself on the side Argentina would be attacking. It was rumored that both Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Leo Messi would only play the first 45 minutes and so I wanted to ensure that I was able to photograph Messi while I had the opportunity.

My decision to place myself on Argentina’s side of the pitch paid off well as I was treated to 3 goals on my half in the first 45 minutes.

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Sweden takes on Argentina - 8 of 35

It didn’t take long for Argentina to take the lead. Real Madrid’s Angel Di Maria received a pass and immediately played through his Real Madrid teammate Gonzalo Higuain on goal.

Higuain’s shot was deflect by a Swedish defender but it was still too much for Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson.

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Sweden takes on Argentina - 10 of 35
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As the game progressed I always tried to keep one eye on Leo Messi and shot a ton of stills of him. I ended the evening with tons of great archive pictures of him. Now while Leo Messi might be undisputed star I was really impressed with Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero.

I like this picture bellow of Aguero, the shape of his body and low center of gravity it reminds my of his father in law.

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While Argentina clearly seemed the stronger side Sweden was able to get back into it when Jonas Olsson’s header equalized the game. Unfortunately for Sweden the tie did not hold long as Sergio Aguero made it 2-1 on what felt like the very next attack.

Argentina would go on to score another goal via Gonzalo Higuain and come close to fourth when Sergio Aguero put one over the cross bar.

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Sweden takes on Argentina - 16 of 35

Check out part 2 for more pictures from Sweden – Argentina. All images and more available via Pic Agency.