Floodlight failure blacks out Argentina vs. Brazil friendly

4 Oct 2012, 1:53 pm   -   Source: Reuters
Argentina's players, Brazil's Paulinho (C, front) and referee Enrique Osses (C, in black) from Chile wait for the lights to be restored during a partial blackout before their friendly soccer match in Resistencia, Chaco province, October 3, 2012. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

Argentina's players, Brazil's Paulinho (C, front) and referee Enrique Osses (C, in black) from Chile wait for the lights to be restored during a partial blackout before their friendly soccer match in Resistencia, Chaco province, October 3, 2012. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

The teams, picked only from domestic leagues, were due to meet for the second time in two weeks after Brazil won 2-1 in the first match of the "Superclasico of the Americas" doubleheader in Goiania on September 19.

The teams, picked only from domestic leagues, were due to meet for the second time in two weeks after Brazil won 2-1 in the first match of the "Superclasico of the Americas" doubleheader in Goiania on September 19.

The players took the field and lined up for the anthems but Chilean referee Enrique Osses delayed kickoff until full lighting could be resorted after a generator failed.

The teams spent more than half an hour on the pitch warming up and chatting among themselves until they were led off again.

With no back-up generator available in the vicinity, Osses abandoned the match an hour after the scheduled 0100 GMT (2:00 a.m. British time) kickoff, embarrassing the Argentine Football Association (AFA), who had organised the match in Resistencia.

AFA sources said no new date was immediately available for the match since the international calendar was packed until the end of the year.

Brazil were fielding several first-choice players including Neymar, who scored the winner in Goiania with a last-minute penalty, while the best-known player in the Argentina team was World Cup winger Maxi Rodriguez.

(Reporting by Rex Gowar in Buenos Aires; Editing by John O'Brien)

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