Lionel Messi scored his 100th goal for Argentina in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday (Dutch time). In his own country, the star player contributed with a hat trick to the monster victory in Curaçao, where many (former) Eredivisie players participated: 7-0.
The 35-year-old Messi was still on 99 goals for Argentina before the exhibition match in Santiago del Estero. That changed in the twentieth minute. The captain flawlessly took a difficult ball in the penalty area, found space to shoot and left Eloy Room without a chance.
Keeper Room (ex-Vitesse) was one of the many (former) Eredivisie players who took action against the world champion on behalf of Curaçao. Cuco Martina, Vurnon Anita and Juninho Bacuna, among others, were also at the kick-off. After the break, there were substitutes for players like Richairo Zivkovic and Giovanni Troupée.
As expected, Argentina did not care about Curaçao. Messi scored two more times before the break and is now on 102 goals for his country. No other Argentinian ever managed to break the 100-hit mark. Gabriel Batistuta, the number two on the eternal top scorers list, did not even reach the sixty goals.
Curaçao limits damage in the second half
Nicolás González and Enzo Fernández also participated in the Argentinian goal feast in the first half. In the final phase of the second half, the home team ran further away from Curaçao through a penalty from Ángel di María and a goal from Gonzalo Montiel. Ajax keeper Gerónimo Rulli stayed on the bench, just like Lisandro Martínez and Nicolás Tagliafico.
Afterwards, the players of Argentina celebrated (again) extensively the achievement of the world title. The team of national coach Lionel Scaloni was too strong for France in the final of the World Cup at the end of last year after penalties and gave Argentina its first world title since 1986.
The exhibition game against Curaçao was Argentina’s second game as world champion. ‘La Albiceleste’ already played a friendly match against Panama last Thursday: 2-0.
