Argentina belts Burkina Faso ahead of Messi finale
Argentina made light work of a youthful Burkina Faso side, thrashing the visitors 7-0 in a friendly ahead of Lionel Messi's much-hyped farewell on Wednesday (AEDT).
Burkina Faso fielded its Under-23 side, and the players arrived in Buenos Aires only five hours prior to kick-off at Estadio Monumental because of issues with the plane carrying them from Morocco to the Argentinian capital.
It took just four minutes for the Albiceleste to go ahead from the penalty spot after a clumsy foul by Moumouni Diallo in the box, but Burkina Faso goalkeeper Razak Guira almost made a name for himself by stopping Lautaro Martinez's initial effort.
But the rebound fell kindly for the Inter Milan star and he slotted it home to open the scoring.
Four minutes later, Diallo was in the thick of it again, diverting the ball into his own net after another Argentina attack, and it was 3-0 after 12 minutes when Ginaluca Prestianni played a one-two with Lautaro before side-footing home with ease.
Guira made a string of excellent saves in the hope of preventing the scoreline from ballooning out too far before the break, but he could do nothing to stop Nico Paz from firing through his legs at close range on 35 minutes after running in behind to collect a ball over the top from Alexis Mac Allister.
Just a minute later, it was five as Julian Alvarez completed an intricate passing move that had Burkina Faso at sixes and sevens, firing into the net to brighten what has been a difficult start the season for the Atletico Madrid man.
Lionel Scaloni rang the changes at half-time, as did Burkina Faso, and while the visitors coped a little better than they had in the first period, they conceded a sixth goal little more than 10 minutes after the restart.
Substitute Leonel Flores found Facundo Medina in space, and he fed an unmarked Franco Mastantuono inside the box, and the Fiorentina man made no mistake with his finish.
Guira made another superb stop on 66 minutes to keep out a powerful Mac Allister header from a corner, and barely five minutes later, the visitors managed their first shot on Argentina's goal, but it was easily dealt with by Emiliano Martinez, who became Scaloni's 11th substitute not long after as he switched out his entire team.
Three minutes from time, Guira was called into more spectacular action to keep out a firmly struck free-kick from Mastantuono that almost crept under his crossbar.
Guira was beaten when Santiago Castro let fly in the second minute of stoppage-time, but his fierce shot slammed into the crossbar. However, Guira could do nothing a minute later when a perfectly floated cross from Valentin Barco found Giuliano Simeone unmarked in the box, and the Atletico Madrid man put home the simplest of headers to round out the scoring.
Argentina will now look ahead to Messi's final flourish on Tuesday, with Benin the opponent for his last match in the Albiceleste shirt.
