Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi passed the 100-goal mark during a 7-0 win over Curaçao. The Argentina captain bagged this landmark goal after 20 minutes in Santiago del Estero, and quickly followed it with his 101st and 102nd in the first half.
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The 35-year-old football player now has 803 goals for club and country in his professional career. It also comes 17 years after opening his Argentina account during 3-2 defeat to Croatia in March 2006.
The match with Curaçao remained goalless for much of the second half. Until Ángel Di María converted from the penalty shot, and Gonzalo Montiel scored after Paulo Dybala’s cross in the final 15 minutes. Argentina walked away with a 7-score win.
Messi’s recent milestone comes just days after he scored his 800th career goal. This was during a friendly against Panama.
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He is now the third overall on the list of top international goalscorers, 15 behind Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and seven behind Iranian Ali Daei. Argentina coach, Lionel Scaloni told reporters:
I hope there will be more [goals from Messi], he deserves all the praise, and it’s good that these goals have been on Argentine soil, that has a special value too
The friendly with Curaçao is the second match wince Argentina won the World Cup in a dramatic finish against France. According to Al Jazeera, fellow goalscorer Nicolas Gonzalez says:
You cannot describe Messi in words…He’s the best in the world and he shows it match after match, day after day. Every time he touches the ball, he makes you smile
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