Lionel Messi: Paris Saint Germain Star Scores 100th Argentina Goal in Curacao Romp

• Argentina captain Lionel Messi continues to make history for the South American country
• The PSG forward scored his 100th international goal for Argentina against Curacao
• He also scored a hat-trick against the Caribbean minnows

Lionel Messi notched his 100th international goal for Argentina in a low-profile friendly match against Curacao on Tuesday night in Santiago del Estero.

The 35-year-old broke the deadlock inside the penalty area in the 20th minute against the Caribbean country at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades.

Nicolas Gonzalez was also on the scoresheet before the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner added another 13 minutes later to make it 3-0.

The Argentine phenom then grabbed his hat-trick on 37 minutes, just after Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez had scored the fourth as La Albiceleste toyed with their overwhelmed opponents.

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Paris Saint-Germain star Messi went into the game as the South American country's all-time record goal scorer. He has scored more than second placed Gabriel Batistuta on 56 and third best scorer Sergio Aguero with 41.

Messi has now joined the highly coveted 100-international goal club, closely chasing his longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo and legendary Iran striker Ali Daei.

This is Messi's second game for his country since winning the World Cup in Qatar four months ago. He returned to the pitch for the first time last Thursday with Argentina in the international friendly game against Panama, where he scored an amazing free kick to reach a landmark of 800 career goals.

The ex-Barcelona forward cemented his place in Argentina’s history after he guided the South American giants to the World Cup glory last year.

Messi's 100th goal

Messi honoured by his country

Meanwhile, Argentina's training centre would be named after Messi after his success at the World Cup last year.

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The South American country's FA president made the announcement and the veteran reacted to this individual honour on social media.

Messi played a pivotal role in La Albiceleste's triumph in Qatar, receiving the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player with seven goals.

Argentina players show Messi respect

Messi is the captain of the national team. Beyond that, he is the leader and the idol of most of the group, which has helped the team's unity to achieve their goals, Sports Brief reported.

After the match against Panama, the former Barcelona captain was seen ordering his teammates to go in a certain direction with a finger gesture. They all moved immediately like an army, according to a video circulating on Twitter.

The show of respect in the video comes as no surprise. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in 2021 claimed he would give his life to see Messi achieve his goals for the national team, as reported by 90min.