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Lautaro Martinez nets two on return from suspension
Result leaves Argentina sat third in Group A on three points
Five-goal victory boosts chances off progression
A thumping 5-0 win for Argentina over Guinea means they now must wait to see if they progress to the FIFA U-20 World Cup knockout stage as one of the best third-placed finishers.
The maths, on the face of it, were simple. Argentina had to win, the bigger the better, to stand any chance of staying at Korea Republic 2017. They set about their task immediately, with Marcelo Torres seeing two chances go begging in the first ten minutes.
When they then had two goals disallowed, you feared it could be a repeat of their earlier encounters - plenty of chances but very little in the shape of numbers on the scoreboard. Torres prevented that though, tapping in after good work from Santiago Colombatto, to calm the nerves.
And calm they were when Martinez scored a superb second, controlling on his chest before curling into the top corner from the edge of the area. The search to improve their goal difference continued after the break, this time being fruitful in the air. Matias Zaracho added a third before Exequiel Ponce, with his very first touch, launched a free-kick to the back post to pick out Marcos Senesi.
A clever free-kick, reminiscent of Javier Zanetti’s goal strike versus England at 1998 FIFA World Cup France™, got Martinez his second, though a late Zaracho goal-line clearance was as good as a goal. Now Argentina must hope three points and a goal difference of +1 is enough.
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