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Argentina legend Lionel Messi has penned a heartfelt message to his side's fans following their victory over Curacao.
Messi led the charge in the friendly on Tuesday (March 28) as La Albiceleste thrashed their opponents 7-0. La Pulga scored a hat-trick, while Nicolas Gonzalez, Enzo Fernandez, Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Montiel also got on the scoresheet.
They also got a chance to celebrate their 2022 FIFA World Cup success with the fans gathered at the Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades. Following the game, Messi posted multiple images of himself and his teammates celebrating with the World Cup trophy as well as photos from the game. He wrote on Instagram:
"What a nice way to close these dates, impressive today all the people in Santiago del Estero. I wish we can continue to share together many moments like these and the craziness never ends!!!"
This was Argentina's second and final game of the ongoing international break. They beat Panama 2-0 last week in a friendly at the El Monumental in Buenos Aires. Messi was on the scoresheet there, too, netting a brilliant free-kick late on to score the 800th senior goal of his career.
Lionel Messi moves past 100 goals for Argentina with stunning first-half hat-trick against Curacao
Lionel Messi was at his marauding and creative best in Argentina's comprehensive defeat of Curacao.
He got the ball rolling in the 20th minute with a right-footed finish from Giovani Lo Celso's pass. It was his 100th goal for the South American giants in his 174th appearance, making him the only active men's player other than Cristiano Ronaldo to achieve the feat. Ronaldo has scored 122 times in 196 games for Portugal.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar then got his side's third goal against Curacao in the 33rd minute with a sweeping left-footed finish. Messi completed his hat-trick four minutes later with another superb finish on the counter-attack. Two minutes before that, he had assisted Enzo Fernandez to put La Albiceleste up by four goals to the good.
Lionel Messi's overall stats from the contest were brilliant as well. He ended the game with seven shots and scored with all three of his efforts on target. He also laid out three key passes, including one big chance created, completed three dribbles and won four of his six ground duels.
