Lionel Messi has become the player with the most appearances for Argentina following the Copa America 2021 Match against Bolivia at the Arena Pantanal Stadium in Brazil.
His team also trashed Bolivia to qualify for the quarterfinals of the competition. The victory has extended Argentina’s unbeaten run to 17 games.
Argentina will play against Ecuador in the next stage of the Copa America following the victory.
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The Argentine team went into the encounter as they have never lost to Bolivia in a neutral venue, while Bolivia has only beaten Argentina twice in the competition.
For the Barcelona forward, the game against Bolivia marked his 148 appearances in the Argentina shirt surpassing Javier Mascherano’s record.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner is also ahead of Sergio Aguero who has played his 100th game for Argentina.
Messi, 34, who captained the Argentina team laid a pass in the 6th minute which was sent into the Bolivian net by Alejandro Gomez.
He also converted a penalty 27 minutes later, helping his country double the lead.
The Barcelona man placed his name for the second time on scoresheet in the 42nd minute to give his side a comfortable boost.
Bolivia who were dominated by the Argentina team pulled off a surprise in the 60th minute after Erwin Saavedra netted in their consolation goal to make the score 3-1.
But further pressure from Argentina gave Lautaro Martinez a chance to end the game with a 4-1 humiliation of Bolivia.