Argentine star Lionel Messi expressed great happiness after removing Brazilian legend Pele from the top scorer of the South American Football Confederation, saying that it was a dream for him and it came true.
Messi topped the list of top scorers for the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), after scoring a hat-trick in which he led the Argentine national team to a 3-0 victory over its Bolivian counterpart on Thursday evening (Friday morning GMT) in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. .
Messi cries during Argentina's celebration of the Copa America title with the fans!
🇦🇷😢# Messi # Argentina_Bolivia pic.twitter.com/svEMlJhRUQ
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) September 10, 2021
Messi set the record for the most goals scored by a player for his country at the level of the South American teams, after his second and third goals against Bolivia, where he raised his score to 79 goals.
Messi, 34, equaled Pele's number by scoring his 77th international goal when he opened the scoring for Argentina in the 14th minute, then added the second goal in the 64th minute, before completing his hat-trick and enhancing his number by scoring the third goal in the 88th minute.
Messi could not control his tears after he broke Pele's record, months after leading the Argentine national team to crown the Copa America title, the first for Argentina in 28 years.
🥺🇦🇷 Impossible no emocionarse con #Messi: "Lo soñé. Esperé mucho tiempo esto, estoy muy feliz."#EliminatoriasSudamericanas
🎥 @TV_Publica pic.twitter.com/6oFFAOMljH
— CONMEBOL.com (@CONMEBOL) September 10, 2021
"I've been dreaming of this for a long time and I thank God that it came true," Messi said. "It is an exceptional moment given how it happened after such a long wait."
"There was nothing better than achieving this and celebrating it here, it's amazing. My family suffered a lot too. I'm very happy now."
It should be noted that Messi scored his seventh hat-trick for his national team, but it is the first hat-trick for the national team in Argentina, and thus the team maintained its unbeaten record in 22 consecutive games, the first of which was in 2019.