Argentina began the international break with a routine 4-0 win over Iraq in Riyadh, but their inexperienced group will face a much stiffer test when they take on Brazil in Jeddah on Tuesday.
The fixture arrives in the midst of continuing uncertainty over the future direction of the national team. Argentina’s unsuccessful World Cup campaign, filled with internecine squabbles, tactical vacillations and underperformance at both ends of the pitch, brought an end to Jorge Sampaoli’s year as head coach, and a permanent successor is yet to be named.
For now, remnants of the previous regime remain. Former West Ham full-back Lionel Scaloni, who joined Sampaoli’s team during his year at Sevilla, is in interim charge and other members of his staff are still in place, including goalkeeping coach Martin Tocalli and head of analysis Matias Manna.
The way Scaloni has spoken since assuming temporary charge gives the impression that he sees this as an opportunity to earn himself the position full time, and he is undefeated to date following wins over Guatemala and Iraq and a draw with Colombia. The more likely scenario is that the football federation are simply waiting until the end of the year to appoint someone from the domestic league.
It is, though, Scaloni who has started the regeneration process. For the last decade or so, Argentina’s squad has been dominated by a stable group of players, the last to graduate from what was once the most impressive youth national team setup in South America. The current squad has a different look. Javier Mascherano and Lucas Biglia both retired from international football after the World Cup and there has been no place for Angel Di Maria, Ever Banega, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero in subsequent selections. Lionel Messi has yet to make a decision on his international future.
A number of younger names have come in. Like many countries, Argentina are using their post-World-Cup friendlies as an opportunity to trial new faces. In Scaloni’s three matches in charge, 11 different players have been handed their international debuts and all seven of the goals have been provided by players who had never previously scored for the national team.
The River Plate pair of Ezequiel Palacios and Gonzalo Martinez both made positive impressions in last month’s friendlies, as did midfielders Giovani Lo Celso - surprisingly starved of minutes at the World Cup - Leandro Paredes and Rodrigo Battaglia. Lautaro Martinez scored the first of what will likely be many international goals in the victory over Iraq.
Familiar problems do, however, persist. Argentina have plenty of young talent in major European leagues, many of them with good experience of continental football. But it is all very much tipped towards the top end of the pitch. Their young forwards play for Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Inter Milan; their young defenders are largely plying their trade in South America or at middling European clubs.
In that context, it is doubly important that the new permanent head coach is someone with a clear conception of how to cover those defensive weaknesses without restricting the attack. And, of course, that he is given the necessary time to put that into practice by a federation who went through three coaches, amongst other turmoils, during the last World Cup cycle.
Scaloni seems to have good ideas and would certainly bolster his reputation with victory over Brazil, but that shouldn’t be taken as a reliable barometer of future success. After all, Sampaoli’s first match in charge of the national team was a 1-0 win over Brazil last June.
