Argentina suffered a humiliating 6-1 loss to Spain as Lionel MESSI sat in attendance.
When Jorge SAMPAOLI’s men took to the pitch on Tuesday night in Madrid, no one expected them to lose by five goals. The match started off with Gonzalo HIGUAIN missing a goal scoring opportunity early in the first half. Moments later (in the 11th minute to be precise), Spain opened the scoring through a Diego COSTA goal. Goalkeeper Sergio ROMERO was injured on the goal and had to be substituted off just minutes later as Willy CABALLERO received his second cap. In many ways, he may wished he never got that opportunity.
ISCO scored Spain’s second of the night, despite Argentina actually performing well. Nicolas OTAMENDI scored Argentina’s only goal of the match, a header right before half time to bring the Albiceleste back in the game. The second half was all downhill for Jorge SAMPAOLI and the team as one of the favorites to lift the World Cup trophy in Russia scored four more goals.
Captain Lionel MESSI was in attendance with the injured Manuel LANZINI next to him as the two sat to watch the match. MESSI appeared to leave after Spain scored their sixth goal of the match.
Here were the substitutes which were made for Argentina during the match:
Cristian PAVON for Javier MASCHERANO
Lautaro MARTINEZ for Gonzalo HIGUAIN
Pablo PEREZ for Ever BANEGA
Gabriel MERCADO for Fabricio BUSTOS
Marcos ACUNA for Giovani LO CELSO
Argentina’s 6-1 loss vs. Spain – Match Highlights
Many, if not all, were excited to see Racing Club man Lautaro MARTINEZ make his Argentina debut and while it was a memorable one for him, it was memorable for all the wrong reasons. The loss comes as the last match for Argentina before May where they are expected to play a game in Argentina prior to play Israel in June before the World Cup.