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Argentina and Uruguay faced off in a CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup qualifier last night, and Lionel Messi did what Lionel Messi does. The Argentine superstar scored his side's first goal of the night in the 38th minute - one that perhaps wasn't intended to directly find the back of the net.
The inadvertent goal was a result of Lionel Messi launching what looked to be a gorgeous pass over the top to Nicolas Gonzalez from over 30 meters away from goal. However, both Gonzalez and Uruguay's goalkeeper Fernando Muslera strangely missed the ball entirely and it went on to find the goal.
Crucially, the Argentine made history with the goal, as it made him the first ever South American to hit the 80-goal mark.
Here is a look at the goal:
Argentina doubled their lead before half-time when Rodrigo De Paul made the most of a loose ball to score in the 44th minute. Lautaro Martinez then completed the formalities to make it three for Argentina by converting a low cross from De Paul in the 62nd minute, allowing La Albiceleste to cruise to a comfortable and dominant victory.
Once the match ended, Lionel Messi reacted to his side's win:
"We played a great game. Everything worked out perfectly."
"Uruguay wait for you and they generate danger. Once we got the first goal we started to find space and the goals appeared", he said
Notably, the result brought an end to Uruguay's eight-game unbeaten streak whilst allowing Argentina to close down Brazil's lead at the top of the table to just six points, with both sides having played ten games each. Argentina currently sit second with 22 points and Brazil continue to sit pretty at the top with 28 points.
Neither side should have a problem qualifying with just eight matches left to be played. However, this victory against Uruguay could prove to be crucial for Argentina.
Naturally, Lionel Messi took the largest share of the spotlight due to his odd goal. The pass-turned-goal took his goal tally for Argentina to 80 goals from 155 appearances.
People from all around the world took to Twitter to express their thoughts and hail Lionel Messi for his performance.
Without further ado, here is a look at some of the
Best reactions to Lionel Messi's 80th goal for Argentina:
