Argentina cruised to a 7-0 win over Burkina Faso in an international friendly at the Monumental in Buenos Aires on Sunday.
Seven different goals, including Franco Mastantuono’s first for the senior national team, helped Lionel Scaloni’s side complete a comfortable victory.
Burkina Faso arrived for the match after facing major travel problems. Several senior players did not make the trip, forcing the visitors to field a squad made up mainly of young players.
Argentina took control from the start. Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring in the fifth minute. His penalty was initially saved, but the striker reacted quickly and scored from the rebound.
Argentina doubled their lead four minutes later. Julian Alvarez’s effort took a deflection off a Burkina Faso defender and went into the net for an own goal.
Gianluca Prestianni made it 3-0 in the 14th minute after taking advantage of a mistake in the Burkina Faso defence. Nico Paz added the fourth in the 34th minute. He controlled a long pass before sending his finish through the goalkeeper’s legs.
Argentina struck again just two minutes later. Paz started the move before Alexis Mac Allister found Alvarez, who finished from close range to make it 5-0.
The hosts went into half time with a five goal lead. Mastantuono added another in the 57th minute. The Real Madrid youngster finished from inside the box to score his first senior goal for Argentina.
Burkina Faso rarely threatened at the other end as Argentina remained in control throughout the second half. Giuliano Simeone completed the 7-0 win in the final minute. Mastantuono helped start the move before Valentin Barco delivered the cross for Simeone to head home.
The big win gave Scaloni another chance to test some of Argentina’s younger players, with Mastantuono marking the night with a special first goal for his country.
