With a hat-trick against Curacao early on Wednesday morning, Lionel Messi added another chapter to international scoring history by bringing his total for Argentina to 102 goals.
Messi led Argentina in a pair of friendlies three months after raising the World Cup trophy in Qatar, the nation's first home games since their victory. The seven-time winner of the Ballon d'Or scored his 100th goal for his country with a precise free kick against Panama on Thursday at River Plate's El Monumental before reaching triple digits a few days later.
Fans went to Santiago del Estero to see the team that won Argentina's third World Cup last December, the first since the Diego Maradona-inspired squad of 1986, and the match against Curacao allegedly sold out in less than a minute.
Messi scored seven goals in Qatar, two more than El Diego did in Mexico, including a hat trick against France in a crazy final that was ultimately won by a shootout.
After 20 minutes, Messi opened the scoring by tiptoeing around the top of the penalty area and placing the ball with his right foot into the bottom corner of the goal. Curacao, which is currently ranked 86th in the world by FIFA (which still has Argentina second behind Brazil), provided little resistance.
By scoring 100 goals for his country, Messi has entered a select group of male football players. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (122) and Iran's Ali Daei (109 goals), Messi's favorite statistical foe, have before attained this mark.
When Messi scored a spectacular free kick that was tucked into the top corner of the goal against the USA in that year's Copa America semi-final, he broke Gabriel Batistuta's 54-goal record and took the top spot as Argentina's all-time greatest scorer.
Pele, a legendary player from Brazil, had led all South American players in goals scored with 77 since 1971, but 50 years later, Messi passed the three-time World Cup victor.
Inside the first 25 minutes, Nicolas Gonzalez of Fiorentina doubled Argentina's lead over Curacao. Argentina jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first half thanks to goals from Messi, who finished with a hat-trick, and Enzo Fernandez, the World Cup's young player of the competition. The reigning champs completed a 7-0 sweep with goals from Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Montiel.
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