Two red cards in England 2-2 Ecuador; Messi scoreless in Argentina win

An experimental England side gave a decent performance in a 2-2 draw with Ecuador who equalised through a superb strike by substitute Michael Arroyo before both sides were reduced to 10 men in an incident-packed World Cup warm-up match on Wednesday. Arroyo had not been on the pitch long when he unleashed a fierce right-foot drive from 20 metres in the 70th minute that gave goalkeeper Ben Foster no chance after Rickie Lambert had put England 2-1 in front following a mazy run by Ross Barkley. But tempers frayed nine minutes later when England’s Raheem Sterling, who replaced Wayne Rooney just past the hour, flew into a tackle on Antonio Valencia. Ecuador’s captain retaliated by grabbing Sterling around the neck and both were sent off. “It (Sterling’s red card) was harsh. It was a rash tackle but I thought Raheem was unlucky because of the way Valencia reacted like he did,” England coach Roy Hodgson told reporters. “I’m disappointed that a senior player like Antonio reacted in that way, but Raheem will learn from that.” [caption id=“attachment_1557361” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Messi missed several chances in the first half, was repeatedly fouled and hit the post with a free kick from which midfielder Javier Mascherano tapped in Argentina’s second goal. AP[/caption] There were also concerns over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who suffered a knee injury and is set to have a scan on Thursday with Hodgson saying he may have suffered ligament damage. Rooney, the only England player retained from the 3-0 win over Peru on Friday, had equalised from close range just before the half-hour after Ecuador had taken an eighth-minute lead when Enner Valencia powered home a close-range header. “It was a very young lineup and there was almost a complete 11 players rested from the previous match,” added Hodgson. “But I thought we acquitted ourselves quite brilliantly and played some very good football at times.” Both teams made wholesale changes with Hodgson casting his eye over an experimental lineup while Ecuador’s Reinaldo Rueda made five alterations from the team that lost 3-1 to Mexico on Saturday. Ecuador, who had won only two of their previous 13 matches, looked lively in the opening exchanges and took the lead when Enner Valencia got above Chris Smalling to head home after a fine left-wing cross by Walter Ayovi. Rooney, who kept drifting into the middle from an unfamiliar role on the left, brought England level after 29 minutes when he fired into the net after Lambert, who appeared to have first handled the ball, saw his cheeky back-heel rebound off the post. Both World Cup finalists made multiple substitutions but it was England who went ahead through Lambert’s low drive after the impressive Barkley sliced through the Ecuador defence. A lean-looking Rooney, who despite scoring his 39th goal for England never really stamped his authority on the match, was withdrawn after 64 minutes and replaced by Sterling. Ecuador were chasing an equaliser and almost got one when Enner Valencia’s mis-hit shot hit the post and they eventually levelled through Arroyo’s wonderful strike 20 minutes from time. England, who face Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in World Cup Group D, will play a final warm-up game against Honduras in Miami on Saturday before they leave for Rio de Janeiro. Ecuador return to Quito to prepare for their opening match against Switzerland in Group E before they face Honduras and France. Messi kept scoreless in Argentina warmup win Lionel Messi, looking to score his first World Cup goals since 2006 in Brazil this month, went scoreless as Argentina cruised to a 3-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in a World Cup warmup on Friday. Messi missed several chances in the first half, was repeatedly fouled and hit the post with a free kick from which midfielder Javier Mascherano tapped in Argentina’s second goal. Striker Rodrigo Palacio, replacing the injured Gonzalo Higuain, headed the opener in the last action of the first half and substitute Maxi Rodriguez completed the win in the 64th minute. Prolific for Barcelona, Messi has only one goal to his name at two World Cups, scored in a 6-0 rout of Serbia & Montenegro on his tournament debut at the 2006 finals in Germany. He went goalless in five matches at the 2010 finals in South Africa. “We finished strongly, Trinidad and Tobago were opponents who closed up at the back like some teams in the group will do (at the World Cup),” Messi told reporters. Argentina, looking to win their third world title at the June 12-July 13 finals in Brazil, cruised to victory after squandering a string of first-half chances with Ezequiel Lavezzi, replacing Sergio Aguero who was unwell earlier this week, the biggest culprit. Palacio finally made the breakthrough, heading in an Angel Di Maria corner at the near post in the second minute of first- half stoppage time after Trinidad gave away the corner preventing Messi from scoring. The pick of the goals was the third with Palacio racing onto a long ball out of defence, touching it past goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams then pulling it back to Rodriguez who blasted it home from a tight angle past two defenders. Concerned not to lose any of his players to injury, coach Alejandro Sabella took defender Martin Demichelis off at halftime after he had taken a knock on his ankle when stopping striker Kenwyne Jones. Another concern for Sabella was Palacio, who came off 15 minutes from the end after twisting his ankle. Messi was paid a curious tribute as players shook hands before kickoff, with Trinidad’s Ataullah Guerra making a flamboyant bow in front of Argentina’s captain. Argentina play a final warmup at home to Slovenia in La Plata on Saturday before meeting Bosnia, Iran and Nigeria in Group F in Brazil. Reuters