Lionel Messi took his goal tally to an incredible 82 for the season with a hat-trick against Brzil in a friendly in New York.
The Barcelona striker has spent the whole season smashing one record after another and showed no signs of tiredness in the specially arranged friendly.
Afterwards hlping his side to a 4-3 win he said: “This kind of triumph make us stronger as a team and group and helps us to grow up even more.
“Despite being a friendly, it is always nice to defeat Brazil. I’m also very happy with my three goals, it’s not common see seven goals in Argentina versus Brazil.”
Messi’s first two goals were down to his pace and slight of foot as he broke through the Brazilian offside trap then buried the ball into the net. His third was a more McCourt like solo effort picking up the ball deep inside the Brazilian half before dribbling his way towards the penalty area before smashing a shot high into the net.
With Christiano Ronaldo failing to shine for Portugal against Germany at the European Championships the debate between the two La Liga superstars continues to favour the Argentinian.
Before the New York friendly Pele had claimed that Neymar was the world’s best player but with the Brazilian failing to score Maradona decided to wade into the debate in typical style.
“Maybe Neymar is the best player in the world,” Maradona suggested, “but only if you say that Messi is from a different planet.”
After the match Argentina coach Alex Sabello said: “We’re lucky he’s Argentine. We can benefit from that.”
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