Tata Martino will not feel too low after his first defeat as Mexico head coach, believing neither the big defeat to Argentina nor their long unbeaten run showed their true state.
Former Barcelona boss Martino was appointed El Tri coach in January and enjoyed a sensational start to his new role, beating Chile in a March friendly and then winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
But an 11-match unbeaten run came to an end on Tuesday as Argentina, Martino's former team and the last side to have beaten Mexico before their streak, ran out 4-0 winners in San Antonio.
Lautaro Martinez scored a hat-trick before being substituted at half-time, with all four goals coming in the first 45 minutes.
"Of the 'A' class [of team], this is the second game we played - the first was against Chile and the substantial difference is that tonight we made mistakes.
LA Galaxy midfielder Jonathan dos Santos offered a similar assessment, frustrated by Argentina's ability to punish Mexico, who dominated possession but were outdone on the break.
- Mexico's top team given lesson as it fails Argentina testGoal.com
- Argentina drub Mexico on Martinez's hat trickESPN
- Argentina silences Mexico and its followingHouston Chronicle
- Martino: Argentina hammering isn't Mexico's reality - but neither is 11 games unbeatenGoal.com
- Martinez delighted after first Argentina hat-trickGoal.com
- Watch: Lautaro Martinez Hat Trick Sparks Argentina Rout of MexicoSports Illustrated
- Lautaro Martinez 'happy and excited' after first international hat-trickThe Statesman
- Martinez hat-trick fires Argentina over MexicoSport24 (blog)
- Lautaro Martinez's hat-trick sees Argentina smash MexicoSBS - The World Game
