September 10, (THEWILL) – It was another day and another record-breaking feat for Argentina’s goal-scoring machine as Lionel Messi rewrote the record book again with a hattrick in the South American Football Association CONMEBOL qualifying series for Qatar 2022, scoring all three goals against Bolivia.
At the Matchday 10 fixture played at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Libe, the Paris Saint-Germain star scored in the 14th and 64th minute against the Bolivians. The two goals in both halves allowed him pass Brazil legend Pele for the most international goals by a South American in history.
The 14th minute goal, which matched Pele’s 77 goals scored for Brazil, came from a typical moment of magic from Messi’s boots. He received the ball under pressure, spun around and left his marker with a split-second nutmeg and hit a curler beyond Carlos Lampse in the Bolivian post.
Messi added to it in the 64th minute to write his name once again into the history books. He completed the hattrick that extended his new record in 88th minute to finish the scoring in the game and give the hosts all three points in their race to close the gap with Brazil.
The hattrick took Messi’s tally to 79 goals in all. Behind the Argentine icon on the list of leading CONMEBOL scorers are the Brazilian legend Pele with his long-standing 77 goals, Luis Suarez with 64 for Uruguay, Alexis Sanchez with 46 for Chile and Peru star Paolo Guerrero with 38 goals.
In December last year, THEWILL reported Pele’s heartfelt congratulations to Messi, when the latter surpassed the Santos FC icon with the most goals for an individual club after scoring his 644th in Barcelona colours. Pele had posted: “Congratulations on your historic record, Lionel. But above all, congratulations on your beautiful career at Barcelona.”
This milestone is another feather in the cap of the 34-year-old serial record-breaker as it comes after Messi guided Argentina to Copa America glory in July, ending the country’s 28-year wait for silverware and his own individual pursuit of a senior career trophy for his country.
The emotions were evident when Messi could not stop the tears as the trophy was presented to the jubilant fans in the stands of the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Libe, who cheered, applauded, sang and danced with the joyous title-winning squad.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
