Lionel Messi crossed the 100-goal mark with Argentina by scoring a hat-trick on Tuesday, March 28, with his team’s big victory (7-0) against Curaçao.
The friendly match to celebrate again and again the Argentinian world champions turned into an orgy of goals Tuesday March 28 against the modest team of Curaçao 7 to 0, Messi scoring a hat-trick and crossing the symbolic milestone of 100 selection goals.
The very modest opposition offered allowed the 42,000 spectators gathered at the Santiago del Estero stadium to continue the idyll between the Albiceleste and the Argentine people. And to the idol of the country, the captain Leo Messito enter a little more into the history of national football.
From the 19e minute, he opened the scoring with a cross shot from the right to the penalty spot but above all scored his 100th goal in the sky blue and white striped jersey.
He is by far the best Argentine goalscorer in history, his tally even surpassing that of his two pursuers, Gabriel Batistuta (56 goals) and Sergio Aguero (41).
The symbolic milestone was expected. The ball was taken out of the playing area by the referee and should “end up in the museum”, according to the ecstatic Argentinian commentators of the meeting.
Then Messi scored again, again from the penalty spot but from the left (32e), then launched deep (36e), to bring his tally to 102 goals.
Still behind Cristiano Ronaldo
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 Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (122).
Scorer against Panama, Messi had already taken another step, that of 800e career goal. There too, the sevenfold Ballon d’Or is still ahead of Ronaldo (832).
