Barcelona star forward Lionel Messi became Argentina's leading all-time scorer as his nation beat the USA 4-0 in the Copa America semi-finals. Messi scored a superb free-kick goal from 25 yards out, passing Gabriel Batistuta 54-goal tally. Messi also assisted Ezequiel Lavezzi on the opening goal while Gonzalo Higuain scored the other two goals of the match.
"We've been playing well from day one and we deserve to be in the final. I am happy to have surpassed Batistuta's record and I want to thank my team-mates, it's theirs as well," Messi after the match. "I'm very happy for him," Argentina head coach Gerardo Martino said. "I'm happy that he's done it here at the Copa America. It is great that the best player in the world is the leading scorer of the Argentina national team."
Lionel Messi made his debut for the Argentina senior national team back in 2005, when he was just 18 years old. His first appearance was as as substitute in a friendly against Hungary, he came in on 63 minutes but got sent off just two minutes later. He scored his first goal for Argentina in a friendly against Croatia in March 2006. The Barcelona forward turns 29 on Friday, a few days before the Copa America final where Argentina will play either defending champions Chile or Colombia.
Argentina are 1/3 at Bet365 to win the 2016 Copa America.
sharpe 7 years ago
The most important thing is that he still have some years ahead in his career to set up this record at a very high standard and it would be almost impossible for someone in future to beat that. It's not a surprise when we know how young he starts playing for the Argentine national team but the achievement which would be...
The most important thing is that he still have some years ahead in his career to set up this record at a very high standard and it would be almost impossible for someone in future to beat that. It's not a surprise when we know how young he starts playing for the Argentine national team but the achievement which would be a lot more important for him would be to win the world cup.
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Milaneli 7 years ago
This was just a matter of time. Messi is, without a doubt best player that Argentina ever saw. Many will try to fight me aobut that, saying that Maradona is better. All I hear is bla bla :). It was different football back then, and a guy with attitude as Maradona would end up as Balloteli in todays football world. Congradulations...
This was just a matter of time. Messi is, without a doubt best player that Argentina ever saw. Many will try to fight me aobut that, saying that Maradona is better. All I hear is bla bla :). It was different football back then, and a guy with attitude as Maradona would end up as Balloteli in todays football world. Congradulations to Messi, probably the best player who ever played this game.
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