Two days from turning 39, already older than Diego Maradona was when he retired from football, Lionel Messi cannot stop breaking records.
The Argentina captain added another line to a career that includes magic, greatness and drama, scoring twice in a 2-0 win over Austria to become the World Cup’s all-time leading goalscorer, with 18.
The icing on top of an already well-iced cake, the double saw him move past Brazil’s Marta (17) and Germany’s Miroslav Klose (16).
“I’ve always said that Messi is not bad,” Klose joked to the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, describing him as the greatest player of all time.
Marta, meanwhile, posted applause emojis on Instagram.
An eight-time Ballon d’Or winner as the world’s player of the year, Messi became the Spanish league’s all-time top scorer during a Barcelona tenure that spanned nearly two decades and yielded 34 trophies, including 10 Spanish league and four Champions League titles.
Messi, a father of three, has now also rewritten World Cup longevity. Six tournaments played and a record 28 matches. The only player to score in the tournament as a teenager, in his 20s and in his 30s.
Against Austria, in Arlington, Texas, he became the first player to miss penalties in three different World Cups, but responded with two goals that decided the match and reshaped the record books.
“There were moments when I felt a lot of anger after missing the penalty, but I was able to make up for it,” Messi said.
Inside the Argentina camp, reverence borders on awe. “There’s no need to compare him, because he stands alone at the top,” defender Lisandro Martinez said.
Few would dare to draw a line under Messi now. For his part, Messi is keeping the door open.
“As long as I can and I feel good enough to do it, I’ll be there,” he said after scoring a hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win in their opener against Algeria.
Back-to-back wins in Group J have already confirmed Argentina’s progress into the knockout rounds
REUTERS
