Lionel Messi, the captain of Argentina, scored his 100th goal for his country on Tuesday as the defending world champions thrashed Curacao 7-0 in a friendly.
Seven-time Awarded the Ballon d'Or Around the 20-minute mark in Santiago del Estero's match against the Caribbean island minnows, Messi scored first.
It happened 17 years after he debuted Argentina against Croatia in a 3-2 loss in March 2006.
After 30 minutes, the 35-year-old quickly added a third to make it 3-0, and on 37 minutes, he scored his fifth goal to give Argentina a hat-trick as they played around with their outclassed opponents.
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He had scored a hat-trick seven times for the national squad.
Messi is indescribable, according to fellow goal scorer Nicolas Gonzalez.
"He proves time and time again that he is the best in the world. He brings a grin to your face each time he touches the ball".
In addition to holding the record for most goals scored by a single nation, Messi entered the game with more goals than the next two leading scorers combined (Sergio Aguero with 41 and Gabriel Batistuta with 56).
It was Argentina's second game since they beat France on penalties to win the World Cup in Qatar in December. Messi has always been likely to focus on getting to 100 goals.
He now ranks third all-time, after his fierce rivals Cristiano Ronaldo (122) of Portugal and Ali Daei of Iran (109).
The Phrase "Straight To The Museum"
When Messi scored the Albiceleste's 99th goal against Panama last Thursday, Argentina struggled in their homecoming celebration game.
The 78th minute saw the Central Americans hold on until 21-year-old MLS phenom Thiago Almada broke their resistance.
In front of 83,000 ecstatic supporters in Buenos Aires, Messi then scored directly from a free-kick one minute from time to register his 800th goal in professional football.
Only 20 minutes elapsed when Messi, currently ranked 86th in the world by FIFA, received a pass from Giovanni Lo Celso, cut inside his defender on his weaker right foot and struck a low effort into the bottom corner.
The ball was then seen being thrown by the referee live on television to a spectator on the side of the field, with DirecTV announcers speculating that it was going "straight to the museum."
Gonzalez headed in from four yards after jumping over goalkeeper Eloy Room three minutes later.
Gonzalez changed roles as Messi used his left foot to score the first three goals in four minutes.
He passed the ball to Enzo Fernandez, who made it four with a long-range shot, before releasing Messi behind the defence to complete his hat trick.
Just a generously given penalty by Angel Di Maria and a close-range goal from Gonzalo Montiel added to the score in the second half as Argentina slowed down.
Yet, the 42,000 spectators there stayed in a festive mood as they awaited their heroes to hoist the World Cup trophy.
