Argentina recovered from their defeat to Brazil last time out with a 7-0 thumping of Hong Kong in an international friendly on Tuesday.

Argentina coach Gerardo Martino left the likes of Angel di Maria, Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi on the bench from the start, but that did not stop the South American side dominating the opening 45 minutes of football.

Hong Kong failed to muster a single attempt in the first period, while they had just 33% possession against the World Cup finalists.

Argentina led after 18 minutes when Ever Banega found the back of the net, before strikes from Gonzalo Higuain on 41 minutes and Nicolas Gaitan on 43 minutes left Martino's side with a three-goal lead at the interval.

Argentina's domination continued in the second period, with Higuain grabbing his second after 53 minutes, before Messi, who replaced Javier Pastore after 59 minutes, netted after smart work from the impressive Banega.

Messi then set up Gaitan for his second of the match, with both managers in the midst of making sweeping changes. Messi was not finished, however, as the Barcelona attacker added his second late on to cap an impressive win for the South Americans.