Copa America: Messi Shines, Breaks Argentina Appearance Record
The legendary Argentina and Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi broke his country’s record for most national team caps in style, producing an immaculate performance against Bolivia on Monday in the ongoing Copa America championship.
He was again at his best, scoring twice and delivering an assist in the first half after taking the field for the 148th time in his career.
The sixth-time Balloon d’Or winner surpassed Javier Mascherano’s record with his Monday appearance in the Copa America group stage. He also reached 75 goals with the Albiceleste.
Argentina topped Group A with the eventual 4-1 victory and will now confront Ecuador in the quarter-final round.
What happened?
As usual, Messi played the role of a distributor and scorer brilliantly in the first 45 minutes of the game.
He was imposing sending Alejandro ‘Papu’ Gomez through with a dinked pass for the opener before netting from the spot and chipping goalkeeper Carlos Lampe in transition.
The performance saw Argentina entering the break with three goals up and went on to win 4-1 at the final whistle.
Immediately after the final whistle, the social media went buzzing with comments on Messi’s inspirational display in his record-breaking 148th career appearance for Argentina.
🔥Two goals and an assist in 42 minutes. pic.twitter.com/1JpQfkAvrs — Goal (@goal) June 29, 2021
Other reactions to Messi’s performance
Messi is not of this world. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/82szoct9GW — Nick 🇨🇦 (@Nick28T) June 29, 2021
I had a variation on that a few years ago amigo; I said, “#Messi doesn’t defy gravity….he taunts it!” https://t.co/ancbhsd4T1 — Ray Hudson (@RayHudson) June 29, 2021
Lionel Messi on 75 goals in 148 matches for Argentina! — Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) June 29, 2021
More casual GOATiming from Lionel Messi for Argentina’s third goal v Bolivia #CopaAmerica pic.twitter.com/ucCJ5Jqpwj — James Nalton (@JDNalton) June 29, 2021
📊 MESSI has the most goals (3), most assists (2), most dribbles completed (21), most shots on target (10) and most accurate final 3rd passes (84) in Copa America 2021. Out of this World 💥🐐 pic.twitter.com/dELdrInjMK — mk (@BarcaStat) June 29, 2021
Ooooh that’s magic from Messi. 3-0 Argentina. — Daniel Edwards 💚 (@DanEdwardsGoal) June 29, 2021 – With Goal.com reports
