Talk » victories, which Stafford considers a

ROME -- An Argentina side without Lionel Messi beat Italy 2-1 Wednesday in a friendly match honouring Pope Francis. Gonzalo Higuain put Argentina in front in the 20th minute and substitute Ever Banega doubled its lead four minutes into the second half before Lorenzo Insigne pulled one back with his first goal for Italy in the 76th minute. Higuain, Napolis new signing, was one of several Argentina players currently in Serie A. Pope Francis is an avid football fan, who comes from Argentina. He met the teams in the Apostolic Palace on Tuesday. AC Milan and Italy striker Mario Balotelli missed the match with an injury. Both he and Messi returned to their respective clubs Tuesday night. The last time the teams met was in 2001 -- also a friendly in Rome that Argentina won 2-1. Before that, Diego Maradonas Argentina eliminated host Italy from the 1990 World Cup on penalties in a semifinal in Naples. "We met a team of great quality, one of the best in the world," Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said. "We made mistakes coming out of defence and started badly, but then we did well. "We lacked that grit and finish around the penalty area, but the team did well. Honor to Argentina, it is a very strong side." The match was also used to promote peace and camaraderie in sport and to that end both teams had been staying at the same hotel and had travelled to the Stadio Olimpico together. Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon and his Argentina counterpart Javier Mascherano also planted an olive tree in a temporary pot after the national anthems, as a sign of unity. The tree will be kept in the Vatican gardens. All that had little impact on the teams competitiveness on the pitch, as the match was fast-paced right from kickoff. Italy had a good chance early on as Daniele De Rossi collected the ball in his own penalty area and dribbled downfield before lifting an accurate long ball to release Pablo Osvaldo. However, Argentina goalkeeper Mariano Andujar rushed out to clear the danger. It was Osvaldos first match back since being kicked out of the Confederations Cup squad for insulting his club coach at Roma -- a breach of Prandellis strict code of ethics. The Roma striker was born in Buenos Aires. Argentina went even closer two minutes later as Higuain raced into the area but Giorgio Chiellini got in a perfectly timed tackle to clear the ball for a corner before the former Real Madrid player could unleash a shot. Chiellini, who was celebrating his 29th birthday, also headed the resulting corner out to safety. Argentina took the lead after Italy lost the ball in midfield and Erik Lamela picked out Higuain, who was given too much space in the box by De Rossi and Verratti and he curled a shot into the right hand side of goal. Italy started looking more dangerous, especially down the right flank, and almost took the lead in the 39th minute. Antonio Candreva put in yet another cross from the right, but Claudio Marchisio -- seemingly surprised to find himself completely unmarked -- failed to connect from a meter out. Argentina should have doubled its lead on the stroke of halftime when Rodrigo Palacio slid in, in front of an empty net, but didnt connect properly with Angel Di Marias cross and blazed the ball over the crossbar from close range. Argentina did so shortly after the restart. Higuain rolled the ball across to an unmarked Banega following a swift counter attack, and the halftime substitute drilled a low shot into the bottom left corner. Argentina could have extended its lead in the 56th minute when Palacios ball was parried by Federico Marchetti -- who had come on for Buffon moments earlier -- but only as far as Higuain. However, Marchetti got back up swiftly to palm away his effort and De Rossi cleared the danger. Italy almost grabbed one back but Andujar did well to tip Alessandro Diamantis free kick onto the crossbar. The rebound was eventually bundled into the net by Candreva, but he was clearly offside. The hosts did reduce the deficit in stunning fashion. Osvaldo touched the ball onto Insigne and, with his first touch, the 22-year-old lifted the ball perfectly into the top right corner from 25 yards. It was Inisgnes second game for Italy. "It was a wonderful sensation to score," Insigne said. "I always try those shots and it went well tonight. "It was a wonderful feeling to meet the pope, I got goosebumps because it doesnt happen every day. I still need to fully realize it happened." Cheapest Air Max 97 . A statement from the worlds top-ranked player says all checks "were satisfactory and showed positive evolution" regarding the injury, which contributed to his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final in Melbourne. Fake Air Force 1 . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. http://www.cheapestairmaxstore.com/ . Gather a group of friends, or find a league to join online, draft your team, set your lineup and compete in a number of different formats. Cheapest Yeezy 350 . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Air Force 1 Store . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. DETROIT -- Jay Gruden would like to see his defense produce more turnovers. As long as that unit remains stingy about giving up points, the Washington Redskins coach isnt going to fret over the lack of takeaways.The Redskins (4-2) forced only one turnover over the last two games but they havent allowed an offensive touchdown over the last seven quarters.That allowed them to extend their winning streak to four games.They will be seeking their first five-game streak since 2012 when they play at Detroit on Sunday.Its been good, Gruden said of his defense. The first two victories, we got a lot of takeaways and gave up a lot of yards. The last two weeks, we havent given up a lot of yards but we havent gotten any takeaways.Imagine what we could do if we dont give up a lot of yards and we get takeaways. Wed be pretty good. But Im happy with the way theyre playing. Were not giving up big plays, momentum-swinging type plays.Many Redskins fans werent happy with the play of quarterback Kirk Cousins during the first two games. The catcalls have quieted somewhat during the winning streak, in which Cousins has thrown eight touchdowns and three interceptions.One of those turnovers was returned for a touchdown by Philadelphia last Sunday but the Redskins still emerged with a 27-20 victory.Washington achieved offensive balance in that game, rolling up 493 total yards, and hope that trend continues. Matt Jones led three running backs who combined for 231 rushing yards with a career-high 135 on 16 carries.If we can put up 500 yards of offense 16 times, wed be a pretty good offense, said Cousins, the former Michigan State star who will be playing in his home state for the first time as a pro.Theres always going to be plays where you feel like you could have had 600 yards of offense or 700 yards of offense, but we did some good things. We ran the ball well and made the plays we had to make but were always going to go back and say, How can we be better?The Reedskins can get off to a 3-0 start on the road for the first time since 1999 with a win.dddddddddddd Theyre also shooting for their sixth straight road victory, something they havent done since 1991.They hope tight end Jordan Reed can return after missing the Eagles game with a concussion.Detroit (3-3), which will complete a stretch of three home games, has won two straight on late field goals by Matt Prater.Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who will be playing in his 100th career game, has thrown seven touchdown passes over the last two games while completing 75 percent of his passes without an interception.Staffords 14 touchdown passes tie him for third place in the league but he shrugs off praise over his recent outings.Its the same way I feel when people say Im terrible and Im the reason were losing; I dont pay too much attention to it, he said. Were winning games because we have talented players on this team.On the offensive side of the ball, my job is just to get the ball in their hands and let them go. Theyve been doing that the last couple of weeks.The Lions required fourth-quarter comebacks in all of their victories, which Stafford considers a mental edge.Were a tested team, he said. We havent come out on the right end of all those, like we wish we could have, but thats what the NFL is all about. Games come down to the fourth quarter a majority of the time.No question wed like to be up 21 in the fourth quarter of every game but it doesnt happen that way. There are evenly-matched teams in this league and youve got to go out there and make the plays to win the game.Detroit hopes that its No. 1 running back, Theo Riddick, will return this week after missing the 31-28 victory over Los Angeles last Sunday with an ankle injury.The teams havent played since 2013, when the Lions pulled out a 27-20 victory. ' ' '