Sports Desk: The distance in time shift is more than 10 years. However, Lionel Messi appeared as the same Rudra. He scored 5 goals in Barcelona’s jersey, this time in Argentina’s Jersey. In it, he built a reputation that no one else in the history of football.
Regardless of the opponent or the context, 5 goals in a match alone is not easy at all. Thousands of footballers have never tasted this in their careers. He did that in two stages in top-level football.
In the second leg of the last 16 against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2012 Champions League, Messi also ignited in this way. The Argentine magician scored five goals in Barcelona’s 7-1 win that day. He brought back those memories and scored all the goals in Argentina’s 5-0 win over Estonia in a friendly on Sunday.
Messi had two goals in the first half against Leverkusen, the second at the end of the first half. His goal streak against Estonia was the same. The hat-trick against Leverkusen was completed early in the second half, the same against Estonia. He then took the hat-trick in two rounds to a height of 5 goals.
In that, he too has risen to new heights. Messi is the first footballer to score five goals in a single match in senior football, both in the Champions League (European Cup) and international football.
Messi has now scored 86 goals in 162 international matches. There are three more footballers in international football than him. Malaysia forwards Mokhtar Dahari over Messi with three more goals. Iran’s Ali Dai has scored 109 goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 117 goals in 188 games, scoring two goals in Portugal’s flying win over Switzerland on the night of Messi’s five goals.
