Argentina crushed Curacao by 7 goals, Messi scored a hat-trick to surpass the 100-goal mark

Having made many changes to the starting lineup in the 2-0 victory over Panama a few days ago, coach Lionel Scaloni still believes in another victory for Argentina as Curacao is not too formidable, at least from the difference in class between the team that is about to reach number 1 on the FIFA rankings and the opponent that is 85 places below them.

Curacao eagerly awaits to face Argentina

The ball has not yet rolled but the atmosphere of excitement is spreading in the Curacao team, not because this team dreams of winning the world champion but because the Caribbean players are looking forward to facing Lionel Messi and his teammates. This great opportunity is not something any team can dream of, even if Curacao can exchange it for a "shattering" defeat...

Messi opened the scoring after 20 minutes

Pushing up the attacking formation right after the opening whistle, Argentina almost opened the scoring in the 3rd minute if Lautaro Martinez had not missed Lionel Messi's pass. Argentina's fans did not have to wait long, however, because in the 20th minute, Messi himself received a pass from Giovani Lo Celso in the penalty area, dribbled the ball and shot diagonally, opening the score of the match.

Messi assisted and scored in the match against Curacao

Three minutes later, Nicolas Gonzalez headed in a rebound after MacAlister's header. In the 33rd minute, Messi scored his second goal of the match with a familiar left-footed curler before setting up Enzo Fernandez to score in the 35th minute. The first half score was set at 5-0 when Messi broke the offside trap, broke through to score to complete his hat-trick in the 37th minute.

102 goals distributed across international campaigns

After the break, Argentina took the initiative to slow down the pace of the match but still maintained pressure on Curacao's field. Coach Scaloni's substitution decisions helped Argentina's play maintain its sharpness and danger. Di Maria only took about 11 minutes on the field to earn a penalty with a shot that bounced off the Curacao defender's hand and he himself successfully converted the penalty to increase the score to 6-0. Argentina added another goal late in the match thanks to defender Gonzalo Montiel.

Di Maria came on and scored in a 7-0 win

With a 7-0 win over Curacao, Argentina completed the second round of friendly matches with the most positive results. Lionel Messi scored another hat-trick, raising the number of goals for the national team to 102, 7 goals less than former player Ali Daei (Iran) and 18 goals less than his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Dong Linh - Photo: Reuters

Source: https://nld.com.vn/the-thao/argentina-de-bep-curacao-7-0-messi-lap-hat-trick-vuot-moc-100-ban-20230329094320515.htm