Pamplona/Buenos Aires (AP) – Argentina’s soccer superstar Lionel Messi has scored five goals for the Argentine national team for the first time in a game.
In Argentina’s 5-0 win over Estonia in Pamplona, Spain, Messi scored twice in the first half and three times in the second, including once from a penalty.
So far he had scored a maximum of three times in a game for the national team. At club level, he scored five goals in FC Barcelona’s 7-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the 2011/2012 Champions League round of 16.
With the five goals on Sunday, the 34-year-old now has 86 international goals. He overtook Ferenc Puskas (84) to become the fourth-most goalscorer in a national shirt in men’s football behind Cristiano Ronaldo (117), Ali Daei (109) and Mokhtar Dahari (89).
Argentina won the “Finalissima”, the duel of the South American champions against the European champions, against Italy 3-0 on Wednesday, Messi provided two assists. At the Copa America last year, he won the long-awaited title with the national team.