Why Valentin Barco was given his senior Argentina debut

The recent Albion signing went on as substitute left-back 55 minutes into a 3-0 friendly win over El Salvador in Philadelphia.

He was followed on to the pitch a few minutes later by his Seagulls colleague Facundo Buonanotte.

Barco was called into the senior group after helping Argentina under-23s qualify for the Olympics.

The scoring had been completed by the time he entered the action.

Head coach Lionel Scaloni said: "We liked how he approached training.

“He has to correct things, obviously, due to his age and because it is a position that requires a lot of work, especially at a defensive level.

“Today was not a defensive game and we were able to give him that opportunity.

“If it had been another game, with so little training, we would have thought about it a little more.

“He is a boy who has his qualities. He has a lot of potential and we have to exploit it.”

Argentina are now in Los Angeles ahead of a game against Costa Rica in the early hours of Wednesday, our time.

The Albion duo will then turn attentions to action at Anfield next Sunday, along with their Argentina colleague Alexis Mac Allister, with the Seagulls set to take on Liverpool.