Giovanni Simeone and fellow debutant Gonzalo Martinez scored on their bows in the absence of Argentina superstar Lionel Messi in LA.
Match Events
15' CHANCE! Mori's header wide out
27' Penalty Goal! Argentina 1-0 Guatemala (Martinez)
Goal! Gonzalo Martinez gives Argentina a 1-0 lead from the penalty spot.
35' GOAL! Argentina 2-0 Guatemala (Lo Celso)
It's now 2-0 in Los Angeles as Giovani Lo Celso scores for Argentina.
44' GOAL! Argentina 3-0 Guatemala (Simeone)
Goal! Giovanni Simeone extends Argentina's lead to 3-0.
Exequiel Palacios with an assist there.
MATCH REPORT
Argentina eventually made the breakthrough approaching the half-hour mark thanks to Martinez, who stepped up and converted a penalty after Lo Celso's shot struck the hand of Elias Vasquez.
It was one-way traffic as Lo Celso – on loan at Real Betis from French champions Paris Saint-Germain – made it 2-0 with a powerful and low effort from outside of the area.
Simeone got in on the act a minute before half-time after Guatemala were dispossessed and the 23-year-old stepped away from his opponent before firing a shot across goalkeeper Paulo Motta.
There were multiple substitutions in the second half and it unsurprisingly impacted the rhythm and flow of the match, with Argentina failing to add to the scoreline.
Line-ups
Argentina XI: G. Martínez, N. Tagliafico, R.F Mori, G. Rulli, L. Paredes, Pezzella, R. Saravia, G.Simeone, C. Pavón, G. Lo Celso, E. Palacios
Subs: Sergio Romero, F.Vázquez, F. Armani, W. Kannemann, R. Battaglia, M. Acuña, P. Dybala, M. Meza, Icardi, L. Di Plácido, Correa, F. Bustos, Franco Cervi, M. Vargas, Ascacibar, A. Franco
Guatemala XI: P. Motta, J. Contreras, H. Moreira, Rafael Morales, K. Norales, E. Vásquez, A. Yanes, J. Vargas, F. de León, R. Saravia, J. Martínez
Subs: C. Gallardo, J. Márquez, R. Jérez, M. Ceballos, C. Jiménez, K. Ruiz, M. Moreno, N. Hagen, E. Guerra, P. López, E. Macal
Jhoxua11
99
I am 90% sure Messi watched to access an Argentina without him and I hope he'll be happy seeing them play without his presence. WELL DONE!!! La Albiceleste
fiycdopuyz
61
Argentina hve proven to be even Better without messi.He shld permanently resign instead of waiting others build a fine winnable squard n he comes to detect on other players and bring his bad attitude ,spoil the team ,create confusion ,and start losing matches !!!!
FreeAgent10
55
Palacios, Ascacibar, Paredes, Martínez and Saravia were the players that stood out to me and of course the MOTM Celso. Simeone needs to be more clinical and improve his touches. I can't wait for Tuesday's match when we see the big names play.
Rose55
45
Such a great attitude by Simeone to send his son to a different league and make him write his own story instead of giving him a go at AM which he could have done so easily
fedbcklmnr
37
Congratulations the Argentina team, Argentina played very well today, but Messi could have scored more than 5,6 goals in Argentina. Today messi lacks a lot in the field. love u lionel_messi😍
nishad013
28
I think that coming argentina squad will be more dangerous than recent squad...mertinez,lo celso and many other players have in this team..
KAUSTT
25
he made perfect connection, the kind that when you hit it, you don't even really feel the ball on your foot. if that makes sense
hamza_chounaki
18
I am 90% sure Messi watched to access an Argentina without him and I hope he'll be happy seeing them play without his presence. WELL DONE!!! La Albiceleste