With supporters in the stands, Argentina played another game on home soil, the first since the Copa America overall victory. Just like during the South American football championship, Messi also became the hero of the nation with a hat-trick against Bolivia.
Messi broke the South American goalscoring record that was held by Pelé for decades with 77 goals. Messi now set that record sharper with 79 goals.
“I had to fight for it for a long time, I wanted to have this record,” Messi said afterwards. “I’m going to enjoy this moment now.”
In the international top scorer ranking, Messi is not there yet, he has to put up with Ferenç Puskás (Hungary, 84), Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia, 89), Ali Daei (Iran, 109) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, 111).
After the match, the Argentine national team was also able to celebrate the Copa América final victory with the fans for the first time. Messi burst into tears.
“There is no better way to celebrate this,” he continued. “My family is here in the stands. They have all been extremely sympathetic to me and now we can finally celebrate together.”
At the beginning of July, Argentina won the final of the Copa America against arch-rival Brazil. Angel Di Maria scored the only goal, Lionel Messi was voted the best player of the tournament.
