Lionel Messi hopes the craziness never ends after scoring his 100th goal and ninth hat-trick for his country amid Argentina s homecoming World Cup celebrations on Tuesday.
La Albiceleste routed Curacao 7-0 in Santiago del Estero, with Messi s 20th-minute opener bringing up his 100th international goal, joining only Cristiano Ronaldo (122) and Ali Daei (109) in achieving that feat.
Messi became the first world champion to score 100 international goals, and he showed no signs of stopping there with further first-half strikes for a treble, taking him to 102.
The milestone came as Argentina rounded out their first two games back in their homeland since December s World Cup triumph with wild celebrations, initially in Buenos Aires for Thursday s 2-0 win over Panama.
The players emulated their celebrations from Qatar after the Curacao game, hoisting the World Cup trophy again after it came down from the stadium roof and doing a lap of honour to greet the supporters.
Messi was also presented with a plaque by Argentine Football Association president Claudio Tapia to acknowledge his 100th goal.
What a nice way to close these dates, impressive today all the people in Santiago del Estero, Messi wrote on Instagram.
I wish we can continue to share together many moments like these and that this craziness never ends!!!
