It is very hard to keep Lionel Messi away from personal accolades. The 34-year-old was in the news recently as he was nominated for the Ballon d’Or, and many people are backing him up to win it. The verdict on that will be announced in due time, meanwhile, the little magician has been commemorated by the Football Federation of Argentina, for becoming the highest goal scorer in CONMEBOL history.
Lionel Messi with AFA president Chiqui Tapia as Messi was honored for being the all time South American highest goal scorer. Messi has scored 80 goals for Argentina. pic.twitter.com/UXYEW0orFq
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) October 11, 2021
This took place after the Argentine side thrashed their Uruguayan visitors 3 goals to nil to nil, and extended their undefeated streak to 24 games in a row now. There has been a certain kind of revival of Argentina since June 2019, under the management of Lionel Scaloni. It was on view once again as Argentina hosted the 4th placed Uruguay, in their 10th game of the group stage. The scoring was opened by Messi in the 38th minute of the game, while Rodrigo De Paul and Lautaro Martinez sealed the win by the means of their 44th and 62nd-minute goals respectively. The Uruguay side despite having the likes of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani on their team sheet failed to inflict even a single goal. This title was previously held by Brazilian legend Pele. While on the international rankings Messi has now overtaken Godfrey Chitalu, who had 79 goals too. Cristiano Ronaldo still leads the tally with his 112 goals.
