'Historic farce' - Argentinian media aghast amid friendly chaos
· Yahoo Sports
Argentina hammered a Burkina Faso side made up mostly of youth players 7-0 in a friendly on Saturday and Argentina media were unrelenting in their criticism of the chaos.
The World Cup runners-up were meant to play Burkina Faso's senior side but travel delays meant many players refused to fly given they would have landed in Buenos Aires only three and a half hours before kick-off.
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An under-23 side were sent instead and were promptly outplayed.
The newspaper AS Argentina labelled the situation an "historic farce" and "an absolute disgrace."
Lautaro Martínez, Gianluca Prestianni, Nico Paz, Julian Alvarez, Franco Mastantuono and Giuliano Simeone scored, with Moumoune Diallo also netting an own goal.
"A complete failure," read Clarin's headline despite the handsome win.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said: "Sometimes there are matches that are less pleasant. But people paid for their tickets and you must always respect the opponent."
Argentina play Benin on Tuesday at the Monumental in what will be Lionel Messi's farewell match from international football. They will hope their African opponents can field a full side in the landmark game.
The football icon was not in the squad against Burkina Faso.