There were a lot of cries for Lionel Messi to step up and the skipper of the Albiceleste responded to the call in superb fashion in his country’s final group game with Nigeria. With Argentina managing just a point in two games, the 31-year-old forward finally gave his home country something to smile about at this year’s World Cup.
The talismanic No. 10 made no error of a pin-point overhead pass by Ever Banega to give his side a deserved lead after just 14 minutes. A remarkable milestone was achieved, as a result, as the goal marked the 100th scored so far at Russia 2018.
On a personal level, the St Petersburg Stadium became the 100th venue where Lionel Messi has scored at for both club and country. Interestingly, the strike was the Barcelona superstar's first World Cup goal after 662 minutes of football action on the world stage, with his last also coming against Nigeria as well at Brazil 2014.
