A reborn Argentina swamped Costa Rica 3-0 to reach the quarterfinals of the Copa America in style courtesy a brace from Sergio Aguero and another from Angel Di Maria.
Aguero, on from the start with Carlos Tevez benched in a revamped forward line, netted seconds from half-time after the hosts had dominated the opening stages.
With Lionel Messi magnificently pulling the strings just behind the main strikers, Atletico Madrid star Aguero made the points safe with a second goal seven minutes after the restart to take his tally at the event to a tournament-high three.
Di Maria then finished off the outclassed Ticos with the third just after the hour mark as Argentina joined Group-A winners Colombia, Chile, Peru and Venezuela in the quarters.
"This was a real tonic… just what we needed," said Aguero.
"We played very well and got the goals --- but the main thing was we gelled as a team. Now we have to keep it up."
Javier Pastore, a late substitute for the profligate Gonzalo Higuain, who could have at least doubled the margin, agreed.
"That was a really important win and a good team performance - our attitude was spot on," he said. Coach Sergio Batista was under huge pressure to deliver a win and secure passage to the next round with the hosts seeking their first major trophy since 1993.
{{/usCountry}}"That was a really important win and a good team performance - our attitude was spot on," he said. Coach Sergio Batista was under huge pressure to deliver a win and secure passage to the next round with the hosts seeking their first major trophy since 1993.
{{/usCountry}}Messi the master
And after their slow start, he rang the changes with Tevez and Ezequiel Lavezzi benched and Higuain brought in as a classic centre forward allowing Messi to concentrate more on his string pulling out of the immediate firing line.
Where Messi in particular was concerned, the plan worked like a dream, as the Barcelona man was involved in almost every move, tearing Costa Rica's defence to shreds with his incisive passing and weaving in and out.