Paz shines as Argentina beats Bolivia with ease

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Head coach Lionel Scaloni selected a strong starting XI, without Lionel Messi who will join the squad for his final match next week, and it was Lautaro Martinez that opened the scoring with an accurate finish in the 19th minute.

Paz netted 10 minutes later after timing his run perfectly to collect a pass in behind the defence from Exequiel Palacios before dinking his finish superbly over the on-rushing Bolivia goalkeeper, Guillermo Viscarra.

Paz then provided the assist for Argentina's third, swinging a free-kick into the box from the left touchline that begged to be put home by Cristian Romero, who scored his fifth goal for Argentina on 54 minutes.

Jose Manuel Lopez came off the bench and had a goal disallowed for offside as the game moved towards its conclusion, despite replays showing he was in fact on side, but minutes later he scored Argentina's fourth without trouble, poking home from inside the box after a long, jinking run by fellow substitute Leonel Flores.

Flores almost scored a fifth himself with a spectacular volley in stoppage-time, but Viscarra made an excellent save to deny him before the final whistle was blown.

Argentina will take on Burkina Faso on Sunday (AEDT) in another friendly before Messi joins the squad ahead of his swansong in Buenos Aires, which will be against Benin on Wednesday 7 October.