and a squatting Mengarelli took the handoff down low and emerged untouched for a 5-yard run. | Forum

ROME -- An Argentina side without Lionel Messi beat Italy 2-1 Wednesday in a friendly match honouring Pope Francis. Cheap Cleveland Indians Jerseys . 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." Cheap Indians Jerseys China . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. Cheap Indians Jerseys Authentic . Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. http://www.cheapindiansjerseys.com/ . -- In a span of seven Washington Redskins offensive plays, Justin Tuck sacked Robert Griffin III four times. (STATS) -- A safety, a couple field goals, some explosive plays on offense, numerous key defensive plays and a big advantage in time of possession. It sure sounds like a typical win for North Dakota States FCS dynasty.But it didnt amount to being quite that Saturday as the top-seeded Bison advanced in the FCS playoffs with a 36-10 quarterfinal-round triumph against a rival South Dakota State squad that handed them their only loss in the regular season.NDSU (12-1) had to overcome its first double-digit deficit of the season to overpower the eighth-seeded co-champion from the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Bison are two wins away from extending their record run of five straight FCS national championships, but the semifinals figure to be tough as well when they host No. 4 seed James Madison (12-1) at the Fargodome Friday night.In the only previous meeting, NDSU beat James Madison 26-14 in the second round of the 2011 playoffs -- the first win in the Bisons run of FCS championship seasons.Year in and year out, this football team continues to get better, and thats the thing Im most excited about as a coach, NDSUs Chris Klieman said. We do continue to improve. We dont really plateau in the season. We continue to gain momentum.It helps that NDSU has never lost at home in the FCS playoffs -- an 18-0 mark this decade -- because SDSU won 19-17 with a last-second touchdown at the Fargodome on Oct. 15.The visiting Jackrabbits (9-4) jumped to a 10-0 lead Saturday by scoring on their first two possessions, but NDSU eventually settled into its usual style of physical domination. Sophomore quarterback Easton Stick ran for two touchdowns and threw for one and the Bison rushed for 302 yards while controlling the ball for 40 minutes, 55 seconds. It included a second-quarter touchdown drive that lasted 12:09.It was vital that NDSU kept SDSUs potent offense on the sideline. Quarterback Taryn Christion had 444 yards of total offense in the Jackrabbits regular season win, but he gained only 139 Saturday.We played the way we had to play, owning the time of possession and limiting their plays and keeping a really good offense down to under four plays, Klieman said. That was the formula for our success.No possession epitomized the game, if not the Bison season, like their vintage touchdown drive that provided their first lead of the game. The Bison held the baall for 20 plays while going 82 yards before Stick scored on a 3-yard run to make it 14-10 with 1:48 left in the first half. Wholesale Indians Jerseys. SDSUs gassed defense bit on a faked handoff and Stick rolled right on a bootleg to the front corner of the end zone.Their best defense was their offense, Jackrabbits coach John Stiegelmeier said.NDSUs lead stayed that way into the third quarter and SDSU safety Nick Farina intercepted Stick at the Jackrabbits 1-yard line. But that staved off a score only momentarily as on the second play of the Jackrabbits ensuing drive, Bison defensive tackle Grant Morgan tackled running back Brady Mengarelli in his end zone for a safety, which extended the lead to 16-10 with 9:13 remaining in the quarter.The Bison got the ball right back and Cam Pederson kicked a 35-yard field goal at the 5:27 mark to put them ahead 19-10. He added a 45-yard field goal before the third quarter was over.In the fourth, Stick ended a 90-yard drive with a 14-yard run and he later connected with wide receiver Darrius Shepherd for a screen pass that resulted in a 67-yard touchdown pass.Stick completed 12 of 21 attempts for 188 yards, rushing for 83 yards on 16 carries. King Frazier carried the ball 15 times for 101 yards and Lance Dunn finished with 13 carries for 91 yards, including a 49-yard first-quarter touchdown to pull the Bison within 10-7.Im not a big fan of SDSU at all. Im pretty sure my brothers arent, either, Frazier said. I just felt like we came out with a chip on our shoulder with something to prove. That first game isnt really how we shouldve performed. And we came out and did our thing today.SDSU, which has never had a 10-win season, got everybodys attention with its 10-0 lead. The Jackrabbits capped the games opening drive with one of the more unique touchdowns of the college football season. Coming out of a timeout, they lined up in a deceptive formation of upright linemen, and a squatting Mengarelli took the handoff down low and emerged untouched for a 5-yard run.Linebacker Christian Rozeboom collected a game-high 12 tackles for the Jackrabbits. For NDSU, Greg Menard (sack) and Robbie Grimsley were in on five tackles each and Tre Dempsey had his Missouri Valley-leading sixth interception of the season. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys' ' '