In Thursday’s 2-0 friendly triumph against Australia at a loud Workers’ Stadium in Beijing, Lionel Messi scored the quickest goal of his international career just 79 seconds.
In only the second minute, Messi gave the fans what they came to see when he took the ball deep into Australian territory, dribbled past two players, and curled a shot beyond the goalie.
Messi has now scored in seven consecutive games for Argentina, and the country’s star shows no signs of slowing down ahead of his 36th birthday next week. Last week, he announced he wanted to go to American club Inter Miami.
As the teams on the field, they were met by a sea of blue and white by the 68,000-strong audience, the vast majority of whom were wearing Argentina shirts.
Australia’s head coach Graham Arnold remarked before the game, “I can’t see any yellow shirts anywhere.” I’ve never seen so many Argentine number 10 jerseys, and I sincerely hope Lionel Messi gets a cut of the profits!
In the second half, Argentina extended their advantage to 2-0 when substitute German Pezzella was left all alone in front of goal to head in Rodrigo De Paul’s tantalizing cross.