Online Desk
Lionel Messi further cemented his legacy as one of football’s all-time greats by scoring a brilliant brace against Austria to become the FIFA World Cup all-time leading scorer as Argentina beat Austria 2.0.
The Argentina legend now has 18 goals at the global showpiece – following his hat-trick in the opener against Algeria – to eclipse Miroslav Klose’s 16 strikes.
Messi opened the scoring with a brilliant goal, stroking into the bottom corner after Thiago Almada’s dummy allowed Facundo Medina’s ball to reach him in the area. He then found the net deep into injury time to seal a thrilling victory.
Messi’s history-making opener in Dallas Stadium had been delayed by his early penalty miss and decisive blocks by David Alaba for a spirited Austria side. However, his dynamic double not only took Messi top of this tournament’s Golden Boot standings but sent Lionel Scaloni’s defending champions into the Round of 32 from Group J.
To cap off Argentina’s day, the drama took place on the 40th anniversary of Diego Maradona’s wonder goal against England. The closest Ralf Rangnick’s men came to denting the Argentinian celebrations was a free-kick by Marcel Sabitzer, on his 100th international appearance, while Nico Gonzalez came close to finding the net for Argentina.
However, the European team struggled to break down the defending champions, and Messi, as he has done in seven of the last nine Albiceleste World Cup games, made the difference once again.
Everything was bigger in Texas, thanks to Lionel Messi.
