(Football news) Argentina continued their post-World Cup celebrations as they won 7-0 friendly win over Curacao. It was another memorable night for Lionel Messi who put on a clinical performance in the first half. The 7 time Ballon D’or winner scored a hat trick to surpass the 100 goals mark for Argentina while goals from Nicolas Gonzalez and Enzo Fernandez before the break made the fans go wild at the Santiago del Estero.

It was the second match in a row in which Messi had surpassed a significant milestone in his career as in the last match he hit the magical landmark of 800-goals for club and country in a 2-0 win against Panama. Curacao put up a resilient fight for the first 20 minutes, but once Messi scored his first goal the floodgates opened as Gonzalez quickly doubled the scoreline with a header  from close range after a scramble in front of goal.

The Paris Saint-Germain star was quick to score his second and Argentina’s third with a trademark, left foot curling shot before he set up teammate Enzo Fernandez for a thunderous strike from distance to make it 4-0.  Messi completed his hattrick as ran on to a perfectly weighted ball over the top of the Curacao defence from Giovani Lo Celso and he calmly rolled his shot past a helpless Room to complete a brilliant first-half hat trick.

The hosts seemed to take it easy in the second half, but Argentina did add to the scoreline in the 78th minute when Angel Di Maria scored a penalty and Gonzalo Montiel completed the rout with an easy tap in. The game was followed by tributes to Lionel Scaloni and his 2022 World Cup winners, who will again play in June for another international break but this time they will play the CONMEBOL qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in September.

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