Alejandro Gomez, Leandro Paredes Score on Argentina Debuts in Singapore Victory

Jorge Sampaoli maintained his 100 per cent record as Argentina manager after his side rallied to a dominant 6-0 friendly win over Singapore in Lionel Messi's absence at the National Stadium on Tuesday.

Federico Fazio and Joaquin Correa put La Albiceleste two goals up prior to the break, while Alejandro Gomez and Leandro Paredes both netted goals on debut before substitute Lucas Alario and Angel Di Maria capped off the mauling.

Sampaoli will also have been impressed with his players after debuting a 2-3-4-1 formation in Singapore, where Lucas Biglia, Eduardo Salvio and Marcos Acuna lined up ahead of Fazio and Emanuel Mammana, the only dedicated defenders.

It remains to be seen whether Sampaoli, who recently arrived at the helm from Sevilla, plans to roll out his new formation in the long term, but The Independent's Ed Malyon raised grievances with what he saw as a "pointless" fixture:

Needless to say the setup at least paid dividends on Tuesday, Sampaoli's second game in charge of Argentina and his first since beating Brazil 1-0 on Friday in what was a dream debut for the tactician.

Compared to the rivalry of that South American showcase, the clash in Kallang paled in comparison and was devoid of much competition, to the extent that Argentina held a ridiculous 84 per cent of possession in the first half, per Flashscore.com.

But for all Argentina's attacking might in the starting XI, it was ironically centre-back Fazio who was first to find the net at the National Stadium following a poorly defended corner from Gomez.

The Atalanta maestro floated a good ball into the six-yard box, and Fazio was left free to volley inside the far post all too easily, per the Football Association of Singapore:

Singapore had their worries compounded six minutes later, except this time it was an attacker who did the deed as Correa once again capitalised on the hosts' weak defending from the wide areas.

Paulo Dybala got to the byline and made it all too easy for his team-mate to convert after cutting the ball across at short range, though Argentinian football writer Roy Nemer noted some areas of improvement at the break:

Despite being two goals to the good, Sampaoli made moves to increase his side's attacking output after the break and threw Ever Banega on in place of the more defensively minded Biglia, while forward Alario replaced Correa.

The coach then brought Paredes on for his senior Argentina debut, and the Roma midfielder made an instant impact in teeing up Gomez to lash inside the left post from just outside the area. It was efficient play from Paredes, per OptaJavier:

Singapore succeeded in getting something of a foothold in the second half—during which their possession rate rose near 30 per cent at times—but this was still a one-sided clash, emphasised when Paredes added a fourth with 15 minutes remaining.

Not content with being the creator, Paredes made the most of some weak Singapore defending and bore down on goal before side-footing an all-to-easy attempt inside the far right post.

Alario bided his time after entering the fray and got just reward when he volleyed home Argentina's fifth on the 90-minute mark, but the travelling team sought one parting blow before leaving Kallang.

As if they had been saving energy just to embarrass their hosts, Argentina made it four goals in the second half when Di Maria—who set up his side's fifth strike—pirouetted the ball into an empty net, completing the route.

Massive though the size of the gulf between the two teams was, even a 6-0 scoreline somewhat flattered Singapore, according to Marca's Peter Coates:

Sampoli's tenure as Argentina coach is off to a promising start, and if nothing else, Tuesday's victory showed the team has a leader willing to take risks and experiment in an effort to alter the team's course of recent years.

La Albiceleste have more than two months before they return to FIFA 2018 World Cup qualifying against Uruguay, and they'll hope Sampaoli can have as much success in competitive games as he has in his friendly outings thus far.