Argentina wins big despite Messi's absence

Without Lionel Messi due to injury, coach Lionel Scaloni decided to refresh Argentina's tactical formation. He put Lautaro Martinez and Angel Di Maria at the top of the attack, right above Giovani Lo Celso, Enzo Fernandez, Leandro Paredes and Rodrigo De Paul.

The player who usually plays left midfielder Nicolas Gonzalez had to drop to left back, while Nicolas Tagliagico moved from his usual left back position to play inside to partner Cristian Romero at center back. The player who usually plays center back, Nehuen Perez played right back in place of Nahuel Molina.

Despite the turmoil, Argentina played well. El Salvador, currently ranked 81st in the FIFA rankings and having lost 6-0 to Japan last year, were not strong enough to trouble the reigning World Cup champions. In the 16th minute, Di Maria's corner kick set up Romero for a header to open the scoring. The Tottenham Hotspur centre-back scored his third goal in 29 appearances for Argentina, after two against Indonesia in 2023 and Colombia in 2021.

Di Maria himself almost doubled the lead in the 25th minute. The Benfica star received a header from his teammate from 12 metres away, then volleyed into the top corner, but goalkeeper Mario Gonzalez managed to push the ball away for a corner. Di Maria missed the chance to score his 30th goal in 137 appearances for the national team.

The first chance came for El Salvador in the 28th minute. However, Jairo Henriquez's shot hit Romero and changed direction, narrowly missing the post.

Argentina often switched gears quickly when they had a chance to attack. In the 42nd minute, the World Cup champions doubled their lead. After breaking down the right wing from Di Maria's pass, De Paul crossed deep for Lo Celso to shoot, which deflected off the El Salvador defender. Enzo Fernandez then seized the opportunity to shoot into the wide open goal.

After the first half of the friendly in Philadelphia (USA), coach Scaloni immediately replaced Nicolas Gonzalez and Enzo Fernandez with Alejandro Garnacho and Nicolas Otamendi. In the 50th minute, De Paul caused a shock when his shot deflected off defender Rudy Clavel from five meters away, but Argentina only had to wait two more minutes to make it 3-0. After receiving a pass from Lautaro Martinez, Lo Celso accurately shot low past goalkeeper Mario Gonzalez. The 27-year-old midfielder scored his first goal for the team since the 2019 Copa America, and his third in 49 international matches.

In the remaining minutes, Argentina continued to press the field and had many chances. However, all of them were not enough to defeat Mario Gonzalez. The goalkeeper's most impressive performance came in the 65th minute. He used his hand to push the ball right on the goal line after Lo Celso's shot from Di Maria's free kick, before using his foot to block Di Maria's low shot after Garnacho's assist.

After a 3-0 win over El Salvador in the eastern US city of Philadelphia, Argentina will travel to Los Angeles in the west for a friendly against Costa Rica on March 26.