International friendlies | Ecuador 1-6 Argentina: 3 Talking Points

#1 Youngsters prove that there is life after Lionel Messi

Alario opened the scoring against Ecuador

Lionel Messi is one of the greatest, if not the greatest player in the history of the game and although he has not quite inspired his nation to glory, his presence in the team still offers hope due to his game-changing abilities.

His ban by CONMEBOL after accusations of bias at the Copa America ensured that he has been ineligible for selection for Argentina, but even in the absence of him and fellow stalwarts like Angel di Maria and Sergio Aguero, Los Albiceleste still thrived.

One of the players who broke out this year was Lautaro Martinez, with the 22-year-old playing a starring role in Argentina's Copa America run and he followed that up with a hat-trick in the 4-0 bashing of Mexico.

That brought his tally for the year to eight goals from nine matches and heading into October's fixtures, the Inter Milan man was Argentina's go-to man in front of goal.

However, Scaloni's side scored eight goals in two matches and Lautaro Martinez was not among the goals.

Indeed, neither he nor the much-maligned Paulo Dybala had a hand in any goal (although he won a penalty against Ecuador) and it says a lot about the output of the players who were given a chance.

Lucas Alario scored in both fixtures against Germany and Ecuador, while Ocampos followed up his debut goal last week with another against Ecuador, with other players like German Pazzella, Rodrigo de Paul and Leandro Paredes also impressing.

Many Argentine fans fear for the day that Messi would be no more and rightly so, but the new generation of players coming through the Los Albiceleste ranks are showing that they could well step up to the plate in the stead of the Rosario icon.