New Zealand faces a nervous wait at this year's FIFA Under-20 World Cup after finishing third in their pool following a hefty loss to hosts Argentina.
Kiwi coach Darren Bazeley opted to rotate his squad for the fixture and tournament hosts Argentina were merciless in taking advantage of it, running the Kiwis off the park with a 5-0 win this morning in San Juan.
It took the South Americans just 14 minutes to get on the board after camping out in the new-look New Zealand's half in the opening exchanges with an unmarked Ignacio Maestro Puch heading home a well-placed cross into the back of the net.
Three minutes later, the lead doubled with a slick counterattack sparked by a Luka Romero and finished by Gino Infantino in the bottom-right corner.
Romero was in the action again in the 35th minute but instead did it all on his own with the young Lazio star picking up the ball deep in his own half and pushing through the pressing New Zealand defence to cross halfway.
With little support, Romero pushed ahead and looked up for a clear shot from well outside the penalty box and sent it rocketing towards the top right corner.
The dazzling finish sent an already-partying home crowd into euphoria as he jogged to the corner of the pitch, arms out and soaking in what will certainly be one of the goals of the tournament.
It was tough going for Kiwi keeper Kees Sims who was making saves in between the magic but the flair and confidence of the Argentinian attack was matched by their pinpoint accuracy and oftentimes he simply couldn't get to where the ball was headed.
Still, his efforts kept the scoreline from ballooning further with Argentina only adding two goals in the second half via a penalty goal for a handball by Aaryan Raj picked up by the VAR and a late header to Alejo Veliz.
The loss leaves the Kiwis third in Group A on four points with a goal difference of -4 after Uzbekistan followed up their late draw against them earlier this week with a comfortable 2-0 over Guatamala this morning to claim second. Argentina finished first in the pool.
Despite the third place finish, New Zealand can still advance to the knockout stages of the tournament if they are one of the top four third-place finishers from the group stage.
Effectively, New Zealand needs to have a better record than two of the five other third-place finishers to advance from the six pools and with Slovakia finishing third in Group B on three points, they've already got themselves ahead of one of them.
But to confirm the other unlucky third place finisher will take some waiting with the final pool games playing out over the next two days.
Their first chance to advance will be tomorrow morning when Groups C and D finish their round robin - a win for Nigeria over Brazil or Italy suffering a shock loss to the Dominican Republic in Group D will get New Zealand through.
If those results don't happen, attention will turn to Group C where a win or draw for Colombia, who have won their opening two games, over the winless Senegal will be enough.
Should Senegal pull off a stunner, attention will then turn to Groups E and F on Monday where Tunisia and Uruguay failing to draw in group E or France beating or drawing with Honduras will be enough.
New Zealand advancing to the knockout stages would be their fourth-straight time doing so at the Under-20 World Cup after two wins put them through more comfortably in 2019.
A trip to the final 16 will result in a game against the US, Japan or Colombia.
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