After accepting the challenge, the charcoal tracksuit-clad internationals exchanged pleasantries with fans, signing autographs and whetting the appetite for selfies.
One supporter, Ed Bruzzi, 27, had arrived earlier on a flight from Auckland to watch his countrymen take on the All Blacks tomorrow in the 7.35pm kick off at McLean Park, Napier, in the Rugby Championship test match.
Bruzzi, on a working holiday in the country, said he had played rugby in his hometown of Buenos Aires, but the code wasn't as popular as football although it was changing.
Asked if the Pumas could do the unthinkable tomorrow night, he replied: "Hopefully they will but I don't think so.
"It'll be nice to see but they'll need a miracle."
It is the first All Blacks test in Napier in almost two decades and the Argentines have never beaten New Zealand in 18 matches, although they did draw 21-21 in Argentina's capital city in 1985.
So what is the secret to the tourists' upper body strength that has the propensity to embarrass the most tenacious of scrums?
Said Bruzzi: "The diet. We love our barbecue. It's not just the meat but culturally we bond a lot around the barbecue pit and that makes them stronger as a pack."
If it rains tomorrow, Bruzzi reckons it'll affect the game of both teams.
His favourite player is second-five Juan Martin Hernandez, who has 45 caps and 117 points to his credit.
Another fan, Sandra Gamarano, 36, of Napier, also thinks Hernandez can change the outlook of a game.
A Brazilian married to Argentine Santiago De Marco, Gamarano said the beefy blokes build themselves up on Pampas protein. "My husband and children eat lots of meat. In Argentina a person can stomach about one kilo of meat at a barbecue," said the woman, who is special needs manager at Hohepa in Clive.
She said Los Pumas had bridged the gap, as evident in their narrow losses to the Springboks, but weren't of a standard to rock the ABs' cart just yet.
"They play with a lot of heart," she said, happy to be among the 22,500 tomorrow in case an upset is on the card.
Frankly, little is known of the the Daniel Hourcade-coached Argentina who tend to have more interaction with South Africa and France, where several internationals have plied their trade professionally.
While Los Pumas have a giant-killing demeanour about them, they tend to go through cycles of gaining respectable losses and taking a flogging.
For the ABs, a modicum of discomfort kicks in because they are entering a realm of uncertainty surrounding the calibre of the opposition.
Any lineup tweaks the Pumas make - they have two in Horacio Agulla and Leonardo Senatore - must only add to the anxiety levels.
