World Cup-winning Argentina annihilated Curacao 7-0 in an international friendly, with Lionel Messi scoring a hat trick in the first half.
Messi, at 35 years old, scored goal number 100 with a right-footed drive from the edge of the box in the 20th minute of the international friendly against the Caribbean team.
His 101st goal came off a Nico Gonzalez cross and went in off the right post, while his 102nd came after a simple run in on goal. At halftime, Argentina led Curacao by a score of 5-0 thanks to goals from Gonzalez and Enzo Fernandez.
Second-half goals from Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Montiel added insult to injury for the opposition, as Argentina now led by an absurdly large margin.
When it comes to goals scored for their respective national teams, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Ali Daei of Iran are the only two male players ahead of the Argentine skipper.
Messi sets a record in South America
He is the first male player from South America and the second player from South America overall (after Brazil’s Marta, who has 109 for his country) to score 100 goals.
Messi has scored nearly half of his total goals (46) in exhibition matches for Argentina. In World Cup qualifying, the PSG attacker has scored 28 goals, including a hat trick in Argentina’s 3-1 win away to Ecuador in October 2017 that ensured qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
Messi has scored 13 goals at the Copa America and is Argentina’s all-time leading scorer at World Cup events, with 13 goals in 26 games across five tournaments beginning in 2006.
Argentina will play its second exhibition match since winning the World Cup in December, at a neutral site in Santiago del Estero. Last week in Buenos Aires, Messi and his squad won 2-0 against Panama.
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