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Friday evening saw Argentina take part in their first international fixture of the calendar year as they traded tackles in an exhibition match with fellow South Americans Venezuela at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid.
Even more exciting was the fact that their skipper and talisman Lionel Messi was donning the colors of La Albiceleste for the first time in almost nine months since captaining the side to their disastrous showing at the World Cup in Russia last summer.
The 31-year-old's return sparked a lot of media frenzy, with lots of pre-match hype magnifying the occasion, with this supposedly a glorious homecoming for the Barcelona man before the country launches it's assault on the Copa America in June.
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However, reality is more often than not very different from fantasies and the reality was that Argentina were offered a very rude awakening, squashing any delusions of grandeur as they fell to a 3-1 defeat to Venezuela. The difference in quality of the two teams as well as the return of Messi made the result a major shock.
In this piece, we shall be taking a look at three reasons why Argentina lost to Venezuela.
#3 Lionel Messi failed to provide the spark
Messi is easily the joint-best player of his generation by a long mile and undoubtedly one of the greatest of all-time, as his performance levels throughout his career have been extraordinary; almost bordering on superhuman.
On his day (which is pretty much every time), the 31-year-old possesses the ability to unlock any defense no matter how tight, with his stats and numbers backing this up.
Messi's extraterrestrial abilities makes it a no brainer that he finds himself the talisman of any team he plays for, providing the spark that ignites his teammates to greatness.
Generally, whenever Messi plays well, his teams succeed and vice versa, and this is best exemplified by Argentina's woes in international tourneys where he has largely failed to impress till date.
This brought itself to the fore once more against Venezuela, as Messi (fresh from his newly shaven face) was constantly forced to drop deep and try to seize the initiative and provide the creativity.
For 90 minutes he huffed and puffed in vain, which was to a larger degree indicative of Argentina's struggles throughout the match, while the few moments of brilliance were also created off him including Lautaro Martinez's goal.
Argentina are largely dependent on Messi to succeed, and nowhere was this more evident than in the friendly at the Wanda Metropolitano. With less than three months until the kickoff of the continental showpiece, Argentine fans would hope the Rosario-born magician would be back to his best by the time the Copa America kicks off.
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#2 Defensive frailties
It is no hidden secret that Argentina have been blessed with some of the finest forwards to have ever graced a football field, from legends of the distant past such as Diego Maradona down to Gabriel Batistuta and Hernan Crespo, this seemingly never ending supply of talented forwards continued into the present time.
Led by the aforementioned Lionel Messi, the South American giants have also been blessed with a more than able supporting cast including the likes of Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuaín, Mauro Icardi, Diego Milito, Carlos Tevez and Angel Di Maria to name a few, hence they could not be accused of lacking the firepower to propel themselves to glory. (even though that largely failed to happen)
One aspect where they have however been deficient in was their defense, as they somehow failed to produce world beaters at the back to match the exploits of their illustrious attacking teammates.
This has always been one (of many problems) faced over the years and this defensive frailty came to the fore once more in the match against Venezuela.
Coach Lionel Scaloni started with a three-man defensive wall consisting of Gabriel Mercado, the debuting Lisandro Martinez and Tottenham's inexperienced Juan Foyth, and demons of the distant past came back to haunt Argentina, as they were constantly caught out by Solomon Rondon and co., making school boy-like errors and multiple mistakes.
Great attacks win matches, but great defenses win titles and if Argentina are to end their 28-year wait for international glory, then they would have to find solutions to their defensive frailties and fast because if Venezuela could cut them open so easily, you can imagine the other powerhouses licking their lips in anticipation at the moment.
#1 Lack of team understanding
The last decade of Argentine football was characterized by a team of 'Golden Generation' players who wholly failed to live up to their promise.
These squads were made up largely of the back-to-back Under-20 World Cup winning teams of 2005 and 2007 and having failed to step up to the plate, it was largely believed that the only way forward was with a new group of players.
Head coach Lionel Scaloni seems to be following this template, as he has slowly been introducing new entrants into the team throughout his eight-month tenure.
In the match against Venezuela, the 40-year-old's starting XI was comprised of just four players who participated in the 4-3 loss to France last June - Lionel Messi and the trio of Nico Tagliafico, Gabriel Mercado and goalkeeper Franco Armani.
The rest of the squad was made up of largely inexperienced players, with the oldest being Gonzalo Martinez at 25.
All seven other players had 10 caps or lower, with little or no experience of playing with one another and this distinct lack of understanding was obvious from the get go; from a lack of effective communication in defense to uninspired midfield showing in midfield forcing Lionel Messi to drop deep and try to influence proceedings.
It has been established that Argentina might need a new generation to take them back to greatness, but n evidence of the showing against Venezuela, they are a long way off striking the perfect balance.
