Argentina 4-0 Bolivia: Post-Messi era begins with emphatic victory

Argentina hammered Bolivia 4-0 as they got the post-Lionel Messi era going in style at Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes.

Lautaro Martinez, Nico Paz, new captain Cristian Romero and Flaco Lopez were all on target for Lionel Scaloni's team on Wednesday.

The friendly in Cordoba marked Argentina's first match since the iconic Messi had announced his international retirement.

It was also Argentina's first game since their 1-0 defeat to Spain in the World Cup final.

Martinez's drilled finish got them going in the 19th minute, with Como star Paz then dinking home to make it 2-0.

Gianluca Prestianni hit the bar with a cross-shot before half-time, but Argentina got their third when Romero headed in from Paz's free-kick in the 54th minute.

Lopez then grabbed a maiden Argentina goal from the bench late on, just after he had seen a strike disallowed for offside.

No Messi, no problem

There will be much tougher tests to come for Argentina in the wake of Messi's retirement and, technically, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner is not done yet.

Argentina will give Messi a farewell when they take on Benin next week.

However, Scaloni's team were utterly dominant in this win. They conceded just three shots, none of which were on target, and had 18 attempts of their own.

Argentina's dominance is reflected by their expected goals tally of 2.24 compared to Bolivia's 0.11.

With Messi out of the picture, much of the attacking onus is going to fall on Martinez, Paz and Julian Alvarez.

Paz and Alcaraz had a team-leading three shots each, while Martinez led the way for touches in the opponent's box (seven).

Playmaker Paz also crafted three chances, which was the joint-most for Argentina, along with Franco Mastantuono, another youngster who will be looking to help fill the void left by one of the best to grace the game.