World Champions Argentina secured a thumping 7-0 victory over minnows Curaçao in an international friendly, with captain Lionel Messi leading the way from the front with a stunning first-half hat-trick.
The 35-year-old, who led La Albiceleste to the FIFA World Cup 2022 triumph last year, looked in fine touch as he opened the scoring for his team at Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades just 20 minutes into the contest.
Three minutes later, Nicolas Gonzalez doubled Argentina’s lead before Messi was on target again in the 33rd minute to grab his second with a neat finish.
The former Barcelona captain then went on to assist Enzo Fernandez, who made it 4-0 in the 35th minute, before Messi completed his hat-trick in the 37th minute with another well-taken finish from a swift break.
Leo Messi’s hattrick comes in just 37 minutes with any penalties against Curacao 🇦🇷 🇨🇼#MESSI #Messi𓃵 #GOAT𓃵 #Argentina #Curacao pic.twitter.com/RYEbjyupmv
— Leo Ankara Messi (@ROHANRO77050979) March 29, 2023
The Argentine skipper was unable to add to his amazing tally in the second half, but goals from Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Montiel heaped further misery on Curaçao.
With his hattrick, Messi has now scored a whopping 102 goals for Argentina. In the process, he also became the first World Champion to score 100 international goals.
While Messi continues to revel in Argentina colours, his club future has been a topic of much discussion of late, with his contract at PSG expiring in the summer. A return to Barcelona is being talked about but only time will tell if he will come back to Catalonia later this year.
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