Leo Messi was once again the key factor for the Argentine team to achieve a new 1-0 victory over his Ecuador counterpart, which allows him to start the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup on the right foot, but not everything stopped there, but ‘La Pulga’ added another achievement to his iconic career.
263 days had passed since that December 18 in which ‘La Albiceleste’ achieved glory by becoming world champion for the third time in history and as on that occasion, Messi was once again the star of his team, this time with a great goal from a free kick at minute 78.
But this was not one of the many free-kick goals that he has scored in his career, but rather It earned him to tie his friend, the Uruguayan Luis Suárez as the top scorer in the history of the Conmebol qualifiers to the World Cup with a total of 29.
After finishing the match and realizing what he had achieved, the ’10’ was excited to share with Suárez the top of the South American scorers. “It’s a pleasure to be there for both of us with everything the tie means to us”he expressed.
But as has happened in the most memorable moments of his career, Messi did not celebrate this goal only with his teammates, but he was surrounded by more than 85,000 people who filled the stands of the ‘Monumental’ Stadium in Buenos Aires.
Possibly no one imagined that the current world champions were going to suffer so much in their debut against Ecuador, however, ‘La Tri’ fulfilled what it had promised and played one on one against Argentina, generating a clear chance At minute 25, it was controlled by Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martínez.
Shortly after, at 28′, the ‘Scaloneta’ responded when Nico Tagliafico sent a cross into the area that he combined with striker Lautaro Martínez to achieve a shot that went wide. Luckily for the locals, Messi again pulled a trick out of the hat and resolved the victory of his team.
Messi asks to turn the page
After the match ended, the captain of ‘La Albiceleste’ asked to turn the page on winning the 2018 World Cup to continue with this new challenge. “We have to be aware that we really enjoyed all this (the World Cup success), but what we did is over; we have to look ahead”he pointed out.
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