Lionel Messi netted all 5 of Argentina’s goals as they continued their superb form by vanquishing Estonia in a friendly in Pamplona, Spain.
The Argentines trounced Italy 3-0 in the Finalissima – a game between the champions of Europe and South America – on Wednesday.
Messi supplied 2 assists in that match and he was once again in classic form.
He opened the scoring with a penalty and then shot 2 more goals in either half to complete the defeat.
It is the first time Messi, 34, has scored 5 in a match for his nation. In reality, he has only ever attained the achievement once before in his career, in a 7-1 victory for Barcelona over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League in 2012.
His third versus Estonia, 2 minutes following half-time, took him level on 84 goals with Ferenc Puskas as the 4th highest-scorer in the history of men’s international football.
Fourteen minutes later, his 4th of the match meant he had outshined the legend Hungarian and now holds that position outright, behind only Malaysia’s Mokhtar Dahari (89), Iran’s Ali Daei (109) and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (117).
Whilst Estonia did not provide the fierce of tests, this result – along with the win over Italy, their undefeated World Cup qualifying campaign and last year’s Copa America victory – proposes Messi could yet have a great chance of triumphing the World Cup, the one trophy that has avoided him in his shining career.
