Argentina skipper Lionel Messi completes 100 international goals with hat-trick against Curacao

Argentina skipper Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick and surpassed 100 career goals for Argentina. He scored his three goals in the first half of their second international friendly against the Caribbean team Curacao. The defending FIFA World Cup champions also won the game 7-0.

The 35-year-old scored his first goal in the 20th minute which was his 100th goal for the Argentine side with his right foot from the edge of the box. Three minutes later, a close-range header from Nico Gonzalez added one more. The striker scored his 101st and 102nd goals for Argentina in the 33rd and 37th minutes respectively. Two minutes earlier, he had assisted Enzo Fernandez’s shot from the edge of the box.

I think that is the most important thing to fight for your dream: Lionel Messi

When it comes to most goals for their country, he is in third place, just behind the Portugal skipper who has 122 goals, and Iran’s Ali Daei who has a total of 109 goals.

Messi rose from Diego Maradona’s shadow as he guided Argentina to the FIFA World Cup title in 2022. According to Rueters,  his statue will now be situated next to Maradona and Pele‘s statue at the museum of the South American federation.  At a ceremony to unveil the monument, Messi was holding a trophy while standing next to it.

“I had never dreamed or thought about this. My dream was to enjoy what I liked when I was little, to be a professional football player, to do what I always loved in this life,” Messi was quoted as saying. “I had a very long road, many decisions and defeats, but I always looked ahead and wanted to go for a triumph, for a victory,” he went on to say. I think that is the most important thing, to fight for your dreams, that everything is possible, and to enjoy the game, which is the most beautiful thing there is,” the 35-year-old added.