[ad_1]
Argentina captain Lionel Messi scored his 100th international goal and completed his seventh international hat-trick in a comfortable 7-0 friendly win against Curacao.
The 35-year-old forward opened the scoring in the 20th minute in Santiago del Estero, and added two more goals before halftime.
Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez also scored, and more than 42,000 supporters watched as Argentina displayed the World Cup trophy.
This was Argentina’s second match on home soil since their World Cup victory in Qatar. Messi had scored his 800th career goal and 99th for Argentina in a match against Panama the week before.
He reached the 100-goal milestone by taking a pass from Villarreal’s Giovani lo Celso and firing a low shot into the bottom corner.
Nicolas Gonzalez and Fernandez also scored before Messi completed his hat-trick in just the 37th minute.
Angel di Maria and Gonzalo Montiel scored in the second half, but the night belonged to Messi, who extended his record as Argentina’s all-time leading scorer.
He remains behind Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Iran’s Ali Daei on the men’s all-time international scoring list.
[ad_2]
Source link