Argentina's 7-0 trouncing of Bolivia on Friday night wasn't exactly thrill-a-minute, but there were still one or two instructive points to be taken from it.
If friendlies are for learning and experimenting, then perhaps too many of Argentina's in the last few years have been strolls in the park and while this one was far from an even match, it at least gave us one or two glimpses of what could be coming in the future for Gerardo Martino's team.
Lionel Messi being benched is, it's probably safe to assume, not something that's likely to become a regular factor any time soon. He got the inevitable run-out in the second half, and even scored a couple of goals without breaking sweat, but in spite of the crowd raising the noise level several decibels when he took to the pitch, he wasn't the star of this particular show.
Indeed, the two Manchester-based Sergios -- goalkeeper Romero and forward Aguero, who also scored twice (as did Ezequiel Lavezzi) -- were the only starters from Martino's first-choice Argentina XI, although there was a familiar feel to the 4-3-3 that the side employed, with most of the lineup tending to play a game which resembled the style of whichever regular's place they took.
There was one clear exception, though, and it was the one which could prove the most meaningful change in Argentina's game in the long term: Matias Kranevitter. One of the key members of the River Plate side who have just claimed the Copa Libertadores, Kranevitter has had an exciting couple of weeks, first signing for Atletico Madrid (he'll join in January, after playing the Club World Cup with River), and then gaining a long overdue first Argentina call-up where he had some big boots to fill on his debut for the national team in deputising for Javier Mascherano.
Kranevitter has long been spoken of as Mascherano's long-term national team successor and Martino first wanted to call him up around a year ago, shortly after taking charge, but was was unable to after the midfielder picked up an injury. Both Kranevitter and Mascherano are classic Argentine No. 5s -- deep-lying midfielders -- but they epitomise two different approaches to the position. Mascherano plays the anchor man role, protecting the defenders behind him like few other midfielders in the world; Kranevitter, though skilled in language of defending, is more of a deep-lying playmaker.
That difference was summed up neatly by the River youngster's pass to his future Atletico teammate Angel Correa for Argentina's seventh goal -- Correa, who'd been on the pitch three minutes when he scored, netted the fastest goal ever by an Argentina debutant -- but by that point Kranevitter had already long since demonstrated that he'll be right at home in this company.
It was not a surprise to anyone who has watched him play for River over the last year-and-a-half. He keeps the ball ticking over in midfield like a metronome and in big games he seems to get even better. This wasn't a big game in real terms, but it was still his Argentina debut and he seemed as cool on the pitch as he has for any of his River outings.
The other two interesting areas to watch for Argentina were in the full-back positions. Both Milton Casco at right-back -- currently with Newell's Old Boys, but expected to sign for River Plate when he returns from this international trip -- and San Lorenzo's Emmanuel Mas at left-back put in decent showings. It's hard to really examine the defence, given that Bolivia offered next to nothing going forward, but the relative lack of options in the full-back slots mean attention was inevitably going to be paid to how those two did. And they coped well: Casco in particular looked very lively getting down the right flank.
There were a few other questions which weren't answered in this match too. Can Nicolas Gaitan provide competition for Angel Di Maria in the attack? Is Erik Lamela likely to push for a first XI place this term? Will Ezequiel Lavezzi keep Messi out of the team? (Ok that last one was a joke.)
But the most frustrating unanswered question was whether either, or both, of the centre-backs against Bolivia -- new Everton signing Ramiro Funes Mori and Fiorentina's Gonzalo Rodriguez -- can challenge for a regular starting place. Funes Mori has more chances to do so as he's 24, while Rodriguez is 31, but while it's early days for him in the national team and in Europe at present, Friday's game taught us absolutely nothing about how he'd look in the side.
That's no reflection on Funes Mori; Martino could have put his own grandmother on the pitch in that position and Bolivia wouldn't have looked any more likely to score. It really was almost entirely one-way traffic from start to finish but if the Everton new-boy gets another run-out against Mexico in Tuesday's friendly, we'll get a better idea of how he fits in with the team.
That, perhaps, is the last lesson to be learned from this match: that the lessons from playing friendlies are only ever going to be of limited depth if the opponents aren't up to it. Under the circumstances, Argentina saw several things to encourage them for the future -- not least Kranevitter's display - but, inevitably, there are still some aspects of Martino's reinvention of the national side that we'll have to wait a little longer to glimpse.
Sam Kelly is based in Buenos Aires and has been ESPNFC's South America correspondent since 2008. Twitter: @HEGS_com