Matias Soulé’s Argentina debut gave Roma another international marker during a night of celebration at the Monumental in Buenos Aires, where the world champions swept Burkina Faso aside 7-0. For the Giallorossi forward, introduced after half-time, it was the conclusion of a long route through Argentina’s youth sides and the beginning of a new chapter with Lionel Scaloni’s senior squad.
Key takeaways
- Soulé made his first appearance for Argentina’s senior national team in the 7-0 friendly victory over Burkina Faso.
- The Roma attacking midfielder entered at the start of the second half, taking the place of Como’s Nico Paz.
- Inter captain Lautaro Martinez scored a landmark goal during the emphatic win in Buenos Aires.
- Nico Paz and Fiorentina’s Mastantuono were also among Argentina’s scorers.
- Velez Sarsfield president Fabian Berlanga criticised Soulé over his 2019 departure from the club.
A Monumental evening for Argentina’s Italian connection
The scoreline left little doubt about Argentina’s control of the friendly, but the occasion carried a particular weight for several players familiar to Serie A supporters. Lautaro found the net with a goal of historic significance, while Nico Paz and Mastantuono added their names to the scoresheet in a seven-goal display.
For Soulé, however, the evening was defined by the moment Scaloni called him from the bench. The 22-year-old replaced Paz shortly after the interval and earned the senior cap he had pursued after representing Argentina across its youth categories.
It was a significant personal milestone for a player whose club season at Roma has placed him firmly in the conversation around Argentina’s next generation. The national-team appearance also put Soulé alongside a growing group of Serie A-based players contributing to Scaloni’s evolving squad.
An old dispute returns in Argentina
Soulé’s first senior appearance came despite renewed criticism from Fabian Berlanga, the president of Velez Sarsfield, the club he left as a teenager.
In 2019, when he was 16, Soulé ended his connection with Velez through the Patria Potestas mechanism. The provision allows a young player’s parents to terminate the relationship with a club when the player does not have a professional contract. He subsequently joined Juventus in January 2020.
Berlanga argued that Soulé should face “an exemplary punishment” and said the player was “not a good example”. The Velez president also framed the issue as a wider conflict with representatives, claiming that agents can sometimes act in bad faith.
Yet on the pitch in Buenos Aires, the immediate image was a different one: Soulé in Argentina colours at last, stepping into a senior side that had turned a routine friendly into a commanding 7-0 night.
