Argentina captain Lionel Messi Breaks Goals Record As Argentina Reach Copa Final
The five-time world player of the year set up Ezequiel Lavezzi’s opening goal in the third minute for his 55th Argentina goal, then scored a brilliant free kick to break Argentina’s career scoring record and assisted on the final goal Tuesday night.
After Messi doubled the lead in the 32nd minute with his 55th international goal, his tournament-leading fifth, Gonzalo Higuain quickly ended U.S. comeback hopes when he put the rebound of his initial shot past goalkeeper Brad Guzan in the 50th minute. Higuain scored from a Messi pass in the 86th minute as well.
Argentina will seek a first major title since the 1993 Copa — and a first since Messi’s debut in 2005 — when they play Chile or Colombia on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Batistuta struck 54 times in 78 appearances for Argentina (the AFA does not count two goals he scored against the Slovakian youth team in 1995) in an international career that ran between 1991 and 2002 and included winning the 1991 and 1993 Copa America and scoring hat tricks in the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
Comments