Football: Argentina manage without Messi in win over El Salvador

Argentina rested superstar Lionel Messi but were still too powerful for El Salvador in a 2-0 friendly win over the Central American minnows at Fedex Field here Saturday.

A deflected Ever Banega strike on 54 minutes and a curling free-kick from debutant Federico Mancuello three minutes from time secured a straightforward win for the World Cup finalists as they build towards June's Copa America in Chile.

Although Argentina football officials said early this week that tests showed Messi suffered no serious injury to his right foot when he took a knock in Barcelona's 2-1 win over Real Madrid last Sunday, he missed training with the team in Washington on Thursday.

Argentina boss Gerardo Martino opted not to take any risks for Saturday's encounter at the home of the Washington Redskins with another friendly against Ecuador on the horizon on Wednesday in suburban New York.

Messi's Barca team-mate Javier Mascherano was also omitted from the starting line-up.

Even so, Argentina dominated the match against the central American side ranked 87th in the world by FIFA.

They saw a clear chance go begging in the second half, with in-form Juventus star Carlos Tevez firing wide two minutes before Banega's long range effort struck El Salvador's Nestor Renderos and flew past Salvadoran keeper Derby Carrillo to give the World Cup runners-up the lead.

Mancuello, who replaced struggling Manchester United star Angel Di Maria with 17 minutes to play, made a quick impact with his swinging effort that dropped into the far corner.