Argentina’s Nicolas Otamendi, top, heads the ball away from Bosnia’s Edin Dzeko during the first half of an international friendly soccer match Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, in St. Louis. AP
ST. LOUIS, Missouri—Sergio Aguero scored both goals to lead Argentina to a 2-0 win over Bosnia in an international friendly Monday.
Aguero also received the match’s only yellow card, frustrating the partisan Bosnian crowd the Busch Stadium baseball park.
Argentina featured plenty of attack without injured star Lionel Messi, while Bosnia- which qualified for its first World Cup at Brazil next year- had few opportunities.
St. Louis has a large Bosnian population and the Argentinians were booed from the moment they stepped onto the field for warm-ups.
This was the third football friendly of the year in St. Louis and second at Busch, including a stadium record of more than 48,000 for Manchester City vs. Chelsea in May.
An estimated 70,000 Bosnians relocated to the Midwest from the former war-torn Yugoslavia, and thousands showed up for the friendly wrapped in flags and wearing team scarves, while a boisterous contingent lighted flares late in the second half.
Busch was perhaps a little more than half-filled for a game that carried lowered crowd expectations given the time of the year.
Bosnia has a player with local ties- forward Vedad Ibisevic played at Roosevelt High and Saint Louis University. Ibisevic had perhaps the Bosnians’ top chance when he shot just wide from the top of the box late in the first half.
Aguero has a pair of goals in four World Cup qualifiers. He banged in a rebound in the 39th minute after Bosnia goalkeeper Asmir Begovic charged out to stop Rodrigo Palacio, and then gathered a pass from Maximiliano Rodriguez to find the net in the 66th.
Aguero was shown his first yellow card of the year in the 59th minute when he kicked Emir Spahic in the back.