World Cup Watch: Argentina thrash minnows in straightforward warm-up match

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick as Argentina thumped Haiti at a sell-out La Bombonera.

With the World Cup little over a fortnight away, the time to impress is now. Though they were always expected to beat Haiti comfortably, the fervent crowd for their final home match prior to the tournament is going to spur Argentina further.

Messi’s spot kick inside 17 minutes, after being hacked down by Ricardo Ade, was the only goal in a first half where Argentina were uncharacteristically profligate.

After the break, however, Haiti fatigued and Sampaoli’s side capitalized. Messi added another couple from short range before Sergio Aguero shrugged off his marker and slotted home.

La Albiceleste might have appreciated more of a challenge to prepare for the World Cup, but for Haiti it was an excellent experience to come up against one of world football’s juggernauts.

Sampaoli, even with only one friendly remaining, still seems unsure as to which attackers will fit into a team fueled purely by quality at the top end of the pitch.

Nicolas Otamendi and Javier Mascherano, who became Argentina’s most capped player yesterday, supply some resilience however the gulf in class between attack and defense is something quite remarkable.

Haiti understandably caused the Argentine rearguard few issues, but in the World Cup they should anticipate far more significant tests.

Argentina can take some confidence from this result, although the negligible difficulty Haiti posed won’t be anywhere near what is on the horizon in a couple of weeks.

Wasteful to ruthless

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Jorge Sampaoli’s men wasted a number of opportunities in the opening period – Gonzalo Higuain twice denied by Jonny Placide, whilst Angel di Maria and Tagliafico blazed off target.

It looked to be a frustrating night despite Lionel Messi breaking the deadlock before the midway point of the first half.

Probably most concerning was the lack of a clinical nature from Argentina in the first 45 minutes, and top strikers such as Higuain should have converted the many chances that came his way. Such wastefulness on the biggest stage would surely be punished.

After the interval La Albiceleste improved, emphasizing their superiority. A fatiguing Haiti allowed Messi to steal in for a couple more to clinch his hat-trick, and substitute Sergio Aguero added further gloss to an unsurprising result.

In truth Argentina could have racked up about seven or eight, but profligacy denied them from doing so.

No room for some

Argentina’s sublime attack boasts some impressive names. A star-studded lineup includes Lionel Messi, Paulo Dybala, Angel di Maria, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain.

The omission of Serie A top scorer Mauro Icardi from the World Cup squad underlines Sampaoli’s wealth of options going forward. However he cannot play all five attackers, meaning these friendlies are crucial to see how the front line will shape up.

Messi was always a no-brainer, but opting for the youth of Dybala (an unused substitute last night), or the goal-scoring shrewdness of Gonzalo Higuain is a question the former Sevilla boss has to ponder.

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And choosing between Angel di Maria or transforming the formation to allow space for Sergio Aguero is another dilemma Sampaoli faces prior to the competition. It won’t be easy, and finding the players that link up best is another problem altogether.

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