In yet another feather in his cap, star Argentina footballer Lionel Messi surpassed the 100 career-goal mark for his national team in the friendly game against Curacao Tuesday. The 2022 World Cup Winners defeated the the Men from the Caribbean 7-0 in a one-sided contest in what was their second fixture since that epic final in Doha in December last year.
It was the skipper leading from the front as he scored a goal in just the 20th minute of the match to put Argentina in front, not much later Nico Gonzalez extended La Albiceleste's lead scoring with a header. While Messi's first goal was his 100th for the country, he netted the 101st goal in the 33rd minute with a crossed shot that beat the keeper. In the 37th minute, the 35-year-old got another opportunity to score and Messi obliged by completing a sensational hat-trick.
Between his second and third goal, Messi had also provided an assist through which Enzo Fernandez had scored, such was his form on the pitch at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades. With 102 goals to his credit now, Messi is only behind Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (122) and Iran’s Ali Daei with 109 in the list of the highest goal-scorers for their country.
Messi's performance has inspired the netizens to up their social media game with his fans going crazy on the internet. As expected, Cristiano Ronaldo fanbase has also responded to some of the comments but in general it was about celebrating one great without undermining the other.
"Greatest of All Time #Messi," wrote one user.
"Lionel Messi is the now 1st ever player to win the FIFA World Cup and also score 100+ international goals," highlighted another.