If this was Lionel Messi’s final aggressive residence sport for the Argentina males’s nationwide staff, he made it a memorable one.
Messi scored twice Thursday in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Venezuela in entrance of a raucous sellout crowd in Buenos Aires that had gathered at Estadio Más Monumental to bid him farewell.
“With the ability to end this manner here’s what I’ve all the time dreamed of,” Messi mentioned. “I’ve skilled plenty of issues on this pitch, each good and never so good, but it surely’s all the time a pleasure to play in Argentina, in entrance of our followers.”
Messi is but to provide any clues about when he’ll retire from the highest degree of the game. However the qualifiers for the 2030 World Cup will start in 2027, when he is 40.
The Argentina captain scored within the thirty ninth and eightieth minutes, and Lautaro Martinez added a objective within the 76th.
Messi now has 36 targets in South American World Cup qualifiers and stays because the all-time scoring chief. His Inter Miami teammate Luis Suarez has 29 targets in continental qualifying, however he has retired from Uruguay’s nationwide staff. Bolivia’s Marcelo Moreno Martins is third with 22.
Trying forward, Messi clarified that he’ll solely compete in subsequent yr’s World Cup if he feels bodily match.
“I’m excited, keen. It’s daily, feeling the sensations. If I really feel good, I take pleasure in it; if not, I’d fairly not be there,” he mentioned, including that the 9 months till the event kicks off “is a very long time.”
Already certified, the World Cup champions prolonged their tally to 38 factors and can stay atop the South American qualifying standings no matter what occurs within the final spherical subsequent Tuesday.
Venezuela, making an attempt to qualify for its first World Cup, stays on 18 factors and in seventh place. They’re nonetheless in competition to advance to an intercontinental playoff.
Reporting by The Related Press.
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