Argentina 4-0 Mexico: 3 talking points

Argentina and Mexico clashed in an international friendly at the Alamodome in Texas, with the South Americans posting a convincing 4-0 victory.

They had come into the match off the back of an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Chile in their last friendly, while Mexico comprehensively defeated their North American rivals USA 3-0.

However, Argentina put up a masterclass, with four first-half goals putting their opponents to the sword.

In this piece, we shall be highlighting three talking points from the match.

#3 Lautaro Martinez continues to impress for Argentina

Martinez grabbed his first hat-trick for Argentina

Lautaro Martinez had his first taste of European football last season when he completed a transfer from Racing Club to Inter Milan, and despite initially playing as back up to Mauro Icardi, the latter's off-field drama with the club gave Martinez ample opportunity to take centre stage.

He ended his first season at the San Siro with just nine goals from 35 matches, but due to a paucity of top quality strikers for Argentina, he was called up as part of the squad for the 2019 Copa America in Brazil.

The 22-year-old had a significantly lower profile than most of his teammates, but that did not stop him from usurping them, and he ended the tournament as Argentina's standout player.

His first performance since then came in the dour goalless draw with Chile, but Martinez made amends for that with his display against Mexico.

His first goal was a thing of beauty, as in the 17th minute, he picked up a pass from Leandro Paredes 35 yards from goal with the Inter man running at the Mexican backline; Martinez then showed the composure to beat three defenders before slotting past Ochoa with his weaker left foot.

Just five minutes later, he doubled his and Argentina's tally, expertly placing Ezequiel Palacios' through ball with a one-time finish.

Martinez could have gotten a hat-trick soon after, as he won a penalty after his flick struck the arm of Carlos Salcedo, but Leandro Paredes took the spot-kick instead.

He was not to be denied however, as he made the most of a defensive error by Nestor Araujo to grab his first hat-trick in the colours of Argentina and was substituted at half-time for Paulo Dybala.

Incredibly, Lautaro Martinez has scored eight goals from just nine matches for Argentina this year and if he continues with this trajectory, then he could well be leading the line for Los Albiceleste for at least another decade.

#2 Gerardo Martino's men fall to defeat for the first time

Gerardo Martino lost his first game as Mexico manager

Ever since Gerado Martino was announced as Mexico's manager in Janaury 2019, El Tri have impressed everyone with their wonderful pattern of play and won the Gold Cup despite going to the tournament without a number of key players.

Throughout his tenure, the 60-year-old has been keen on stressing that Mexico are not an elite team and that the blueprint is to get them up to the level where they would be regularly competing with the world's best national teams.

The 3-0 victory over USA last time out might have helped increase expectations, but their subsequent 4-0 demolition against Martinez' former side has shown that Mexico are still a long way off the biggest nations in the world.

When they come up against smaller teams, they regularly flex their muscles, evidenced by the fact that they have made it out of the group stage in each of the last eight editions of the World Cup they have participated in.

However, another damning indictment of their shortcomings against the top sides is highlighted by the fact that Mexico have failed to make it past the second round in each of the last seven tournaments consecutively.

Against Argentina, they bossed most of the possession, but came up short in the key areas, as their opponents obliterated them in a first half blitz.

The defeat was Mexico's first in 11 matches under Martinez and ensures that they are winless in their last 10 meetings against Argentina, with their last victory coming way back in the 2004 Copa America.

#1 Despite Messi's absence, Argentina thrive with a masterclass performance

Argentina v Mexico - FIFA Friendly Match

Lionel Scaloni came into the Argentina managerial role in less than ideal circumstances, and his haphazard results and team selection for the 2019 Copa America did little to restore confidence in the team.

The 41-year-old was retained in his position largely because the Argentine managerial role is one of the most difficult on the international scene, acting as something of a poisoned chalice which almost no one wants to drink from.

To say that Scaloni has been criticized throughout his managerial tenure with Argentina is merely stating the obvious, and those criticisms reached new heights after the goalless stalemate with Chile.

In response, Scaloni made some changes to the squad for the match against Mexico, bringing in Andrada for Marchesin in goal, while Luca Martinez came in for Otamendi at the heart of defence.

Further upfield, a change of system was also implemented, with Scaloni playing a 4-1-4-1 in place of the 4-3-3 he deployed against Chile.

Paulo Dybala, Joaquin Correa and Giovani Lo Celso were all dropped to the bench, with Carlos Macalister, Martin Acuna and Ezequiel Palacios starting in their stead.

The result of this was that Argentina arguably gave their best performance under Scaloni, dominating Mexico with a complete performance.

Despite having just 37% of the possession, Argentina bossed in every other statistic, having 17 shots to Mexico's 4, with seven of those being on target while Mexico forced Andrada into just one save.

This result was posted despite Argentina not having the services of their greatest player Lionel Messi, while key members of the squad like Angel di Maria and Sergio Aguero were also missing, but Scaloni would have been delighted with the way his players stepped up in their stead.