SINGAPORE — Even without talismanic striker Lionel Messi, world no 2 Argentina proved too hot to handle for the Singapore football team at the National Stadium on Tuesday night (June 13), as the Lions were handed a 6-0 defeat by the visitors.

Ahead of the glamour friendly — which was organised to mark the Football Association of Singapore’s 125th anniversary — news of Messi and teammate Gonzalo Higuain’s absence had dominated headlines, with fans taking to social media to complain about the players’ no-show and match promoter Unicess Sports Group’s decision not to issue refunds.

While some 28,000 fans turned out at the 55,000-seater stadium to catch the action ‘live’, it was certainly not a performance to remember for the Singapore Lions and the home fans.

Even with Argentina head coach Jorge Sampaoli electing to play just two defenders in a 2-3-4-1 formation, V Sundramoorthy’s charges found the going tough against their opponents.

Ranked 155 places above a Singapore side coming off a demoralising Asian Cup qualifying 2-1 loss to Taiwan on Saturday, the South Americans easily monopolised possession as they stamped their superiority on the pitch.

“I think the boys tried their best, they learned a couple of lessons and let’s move on,” said Sundram in a post-match press conference, as he pointed out that a number of the team’s Muslim’s players were also fasting.

“I think that technically, you can see how superior they are in rotating the ball, so comfortable in getting the penetration passes (through).

“We sat deep, tried to organise our boys and we conceded two goals from set plays. That’s credible from the boys because they were compact, (though) we slept during the set-plays when they scored.

“In the second half, with all the changes, the boys were tired and we needed to just try to do our best.”

When questioned if the team could have done better, Sundram quickly rose to the players’ defence, as he added: “In the first half, we made it difficult for them. “We are playing the world No 2, you are asking us as if we could have won.”

The fact that the majority of the 28,044-strong crowd was decked out in Argentina’s blue-and-white jerseys was also not lost on the former Singapore international. “That’s life in football, they watch (these players) on TV, they idolise the players,” he lamented.

“That’s the truth, that’s the game.”

Some Singapore players also appeared to exchange jerseys with the Argentinians as they walked off the pitch at half-time, and Sundram said: “I didn’t see that (but) it should be done after the game, that’s my impression.”

While there was a uproar from those who had bought tickets in the build-up to the game after it was confirmed that Messi and Higuain would be absent, the crowd were at least treated to the sight of Paulo Dybala and Angel Di Maria – their remaining two biggest stars who play for Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain respectively – playing the full 90 minutes, with the latter scoring the final goal.

It was a relatively unheralded quintet who got the other goals, which were all their first-ever strikes for their country.

Roma defender Federico Fazio broke the deadlock on 25 minutes, doing just enough to turn in Alejandro Gomez’s corner from close range, before Sevilla forward Joaquin Correa flicked in Dybala’s low cross five minutes later.

Then, as Singapore tired, Argentina proceeded to take advantage with four goals in the final 30 minutes. Atalanta star Gomez smacked in a low drive on the hour mark, and Leandro Paredes followed up by curling in a fine strike on 74 minutes. Lucas Alario then blasted in a volley on 90 minutes before Di Maria applied the final flourish by casually dragging Alario’s cut-back into an open goal.

Sampaoli did not have much to fault his side for, as he said: “The chances were there, I am happy with the performance and the team managed to translate my ideas onto the pitch.”

Despite the heavy defeat, Sundram pointed to some positives from the game, singling out Zulfahmi Arifin and captain Hariss Harun as players who impressed. He also credited goalkeeper Hassan Sunny – who made a number of saves in the first half – for his reliability between the posts.

While facing one of the world’s best teams can be an intimidating job, Sundram insisted that it was just another day at the office. “Not really (intimidating),” he said. “I thought we could hold them and we could fight, I was confident that we could battle.”