An Argentina without Lionel Messi makes it look easy against El Salvador in the U.S.

In a friendly match, Argentina defeated El Salvador 3-0 at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Lionel Messi was not present at the game or with the team due to an injury he is recovering from. Messi has not played a game since March 13th, when Inter Miami defeated Nashville SC 3-1 in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Messi will not be playing with Argentina in the next friendly against Costa Rica this Tuesday.

Argentina quickly looked like the dominant team and had most of the possession throughout the whole game. Quick passing from the Argentina team seemed like the way to break down the El Salvador team. The El Salvador defense kept Argentina quiet until the 16th minute. The World Cup champions took the lead as Angel Di Maria sends a ball in the box from a corner kick and Cristian Romero’s header goes past the keeper and into the net.

Argentina kept dominating the game and created chances to score another. El Salvador kept trying to hang on and try to hit Argentina on the counterattack. In the 42nd minute, Argentina scored the second goal of the night as Enzo Fernandez tapped the ball into the net from close range. Rodrigo De Paul and Di Maria linked up perfectly, and the ball was crossed to Giovanni Lo Celso, whose shot was deflected in the box. The ball falls to Fernandez, and he calmly sends the ball into the net to make it 2-0 at halftime.

Giovanni Lo Celso scores Argentina’s 3rd goal of the night to seal the victory

Argentina scored their third goal of the night as Lautaro Martinez and Di Maria linked up perfectly to set up Lo Celso. Lo Celso scores past El Salvador keeper Mario Fernandez with the outside of his left foot in the 52nd minute. Di Maria almost scored in his 137th match with Argentina with a long shot, but it was saved. Argentina couldn’t score more than Fernandez, who made ten saves, and the World Champs won 3-0.

Angel Di Maria has surpassed Diego Armando Maradona’s assist tally and is now the second-highest assisted in the history of the Argentina National Team. Di Maria now has 27 assists, and Maradona had 26. Lionel Messi tops the list with 54 assists.