Published on :
Argentina superstar Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick in a 7-0 friendly win over Curaçao on Tuesday. A performance that allowed him to exceed the milestone of 100 goals in selection, a few months after the title of world champion in Qatar.
For Lionel Messi and Argentina, life has been one long celebration since winning the hard-fought world championship title against France in Qatar on December 18. The Argentinian captain, far from having finished with football, keep freaking out the stats.
Thursday March 23, it exceeded the 800 marke goal scored in his career against Panama. Tuesday, March 28, it is a new symbolic milestone that he crossed: that of 100 goals with Argentina.
From the 19e minute of the friendly match against Curaçao, he opened the scoring with a cross shot from the right to the penalty spot but above all scored his 100e goal in the sky blue and white striped jersey. He is by far Argentina’s top scorer in history, his tally even surpassing that of his two pursuers, Gabriel Batistuta (56 goals) and Sergio Agüero (41).
The symbolic milestone was expected. The ball was taken out of the playing area by the referee himself and should “end up in the museum”, according to the ecstatic Argentinian commentators of the meeting.
One more triple
But “the Pulga” did not stop there. While the match against the modest Curaçao team turned into a goal orgy, “Leo” scored two more goals. First from the penalty spot but from the left (32e), then launched deep (36e), to bring his tally to 102 goals. He is now seven lengths from second place in the ranking of top scorers in the selection occupied by the Iranian Ali Daei (109). But still far from the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (122).
The icing on the cake, this victory should allow Argentina, already on the roof of the world, to take first place in the FIFA rankings after Brazil’s defeat on Saturday against Morocco (2-1).
After the match, captain Messi once again raised the World Cup (like Thursday after the match against Panama) and sang “Muchachos”, the team’s anthem for the World Cup, under a rain of glitter and a big fire. fireworks.
With AFP
