Picture Credit: Twitter
There was another bit of Messi magic on display at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. This time around it came in Argentina's Round of 16 game against Australia. While Australia seemed to dominate much of the possession in the initial minutes with Messi not looking to get too involved, out of nowhere, the legendary footballer changed gears to produce a superb goal for Albicelestes. His goal put the team in the lead and there was no looking back from there on.
Notably, while Messi scored in the 35th minute of the match, Julián Álvarez doubled the team's lead in the 57th minute. Even though Australia managed to pull one back late in the match, it was a comfortable Argentina victory in the end.
Post the match, a video has surfaced on social media in which Messi can be seen reacting after watching his family celebrate his goal at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
Check out the video here:
Notably, the match marked Messi's 1000th professional outing which he celebrated with his 789th career goal.
"I found out today that it was the 1000th match," Messi said after the game.
"I live in the moment, I enjoy what we’re going through and I’m happy to take one more step, to get through to the quarterfinals," he added.
"We controlled this. match. Apart from the last save that Dibu (Martínez) made, we didn’t suffer too much. We were able to take the lead, score the second and control the game. They marked us and made it a bit difficult for us at the end, but this is a World Cup and that’s how it is," he stated.