Argentina 7-0 Curacao: Messi scores hattrick; surpasses 100 international goals
Buenos Aries: Argentina emphatically beat Curacao by scoring 7 goals which included a hattrick from their Captain Lionel Messi as he set a time as now his goal tally is upto 102 goals for his country in 174 appearances for the Albicelestle.
Goals were scored by Messi in the 20th Minute,33rd Minute, and 37th Minute added by goals from Nico Gonzalez in the 23rd Minute and Enzo Fernandez in the 35th Minute, Angel DI Maria converted a penalty in the 79th Minute and Gonzalo Montiel scored the 7th goal in the 87th Minute.
The game vs Curacao
The defending World Cup champions wrapped up their celebration tour on home soil with a 7-0 win over Curacao featuring a first-half hat-trick by Lionel Messi. It’s a win that’s expected to lift Argentina to the No. 1 FIFA world ranking.
The Argentina captain led his team’s first-half explosion with three of his team’s five goals before halftime. Messi’s first goal was the 100th in his Argentina career, one of only three men’s players in history to reach that mark.
The second half saw the usual flood of substitutions on both sides, but the home side still added two more goals through an Angel Di Maria penalty and a goal by the penalty shootout hero from the World Cup final, Gonzalo Montiel.
Lo Celso Shines
That Argentina won the World Cup to end their drought was a major feat in 2022. To have done it without Giovani Lo Celso was even more impressive. That’s how pivotal the midfielder had been for Argentina in the lead-up to the World Cup. And everything that Argentina missed from Lo Celso was on display against Curacao: exquisite passing, quality touches, vision, and an ability to make Messi more dangerous than he already is.
Next Up for Argentina
By Lining up against these opponents the matches weren’t meant to be about the technicalities of each performance. It was a chance for the World Cup team to take a bow in front of its adoring supporters. Mission accomplished.
The fact that the next matches will be taking place in Asia this June is a chance for the team to turn the page from the 2022 World Cup to a new four-year cycle. And for now, it seems like manager Lionel Scaloni has convinced Messi and Di Maria to be part of it, perhaps at least through the 2024 Copa America.
But the next time that Argentina will be on their home soil, they’ll be battling to qualify for the next World Cup. There should be a very different air around the team by then. The only memory of 2022 will be the patch on the jersey and the star above their crest. But the South American qualifying slugfest will have to be top of mind from that point forward. As good as Argentina are, there will be work to do.
