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Emiliano Martinez sent a message to fans after Lionel Messi fired Argentina to a 2-0 win over Peru on Tuesday (October 17).
Messi scored with an unstoppable first-time left-footed finish from inside the box after he was found by Nicolas Gonzalez's cutback in the 32nd minute. Ten minutes later, he doubled his tally.
The move started with Nicolas Tagliafico's defense-piercing through-ball to Enzo Fernandez, who ran to the byline and played it to Julian Alvarez. The Manchester City forward had the awareness to leave the ball for Messi, who finished with unerring accuracy to double his team's lead.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup CONMEBOL qualifier finished 2-0 in the visitors' favor in Lima. After the full-time whistle, Messi took to his Instagram account and posted a series of photos from the game.
The caption read:
"Another important win in Lima to keep adding together. Let's go!!!"
Martinez, who played the full 90 minutes in goal, simply replied "Tukiiiiii [two football emojis]". While the word tuki directly doesn't translate from Spanish, it is an Argentine idiom which means 'nice' or 'done'.
There were question marks surrounding the former Barcelona superstar's fitness coming into this game. But he started and played the full 90 minutes, taking shots and creating one goal-scoring opportunity for his teammates in the process.
Messi also played 37 minutes in his team's 1-0 qualifier win against Paraguay on October 12. La Albiceleste have now stretched their lead to five points in the table after four matches courtesy of Uruguay's 2-0 win over Brazil.
Both those teams have seven points each while Argentina sit on top with four wins from four games.
Argentina boss looking forward to tough qualifier fixtures after Lionel Messi's heroics against Peru
The games against Peru and Paraguay were a reminder for Argentina that they cannot expect any easy games in the World Cup qualifiers.
Things will only get tougher next month for the 2022 FIFA World Cup champions as they face Uruguay at home (November 17) and Brazil (November 22).
Both Uruguay and Brazil, with seven FIFA World Cups between them, will themselves aim to top the group. Lionel Scaloni, for one, is looking forward to the games next month, telling reporters (h/t MundoAlbiceleste.com):
"We will face them in the same way, they are two very tough matches and we have to play them. The most important thing is to keep playing the same way, knowing that the opponents will make it difficult for us but it will be a nice fixture to enjoy."
Argentina fans will hope Lionel Messi is fit and available for the games against Brazil and Uruguay in November. Inter Miami have just two more competitive games to play before the next international break.
