At the Monumental the friendly to celebrate the champions of Qatar. Opponents don’t spare hard revenues then line up to pay homage to Leo, with goal number 800 in his career
The party, the selfies and even some disrespectful entrances: Argentina’s first outing as world champion ends 2-0 over Panama, at the Monumental in Buenos Aires. And inevitable there is also a new record for Leo Messi: the 800th goal of his career (in 1,017 matches) for the best player in the World Cup came in the 88th.
The match
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The Argentine captain’s last goal came with a left footed free kick into the left corner after 88 minutes, and after two crossbars hit during the match. The Argentine champion has scored 474 goals in La Liga as a Barcelona player, 19 for PSG in Ligue 1, 71 goals in domestic cups for both clubs, another 137 in international cups and 99 goals for his country. Messi’s goal sparked celebrations in the stands of a Monumental stadium packed with more than 83,000 spectators, in a match against Panama that served to celebrate Argentina’s conquest of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
I selfie
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The rain didn’t spoil the party: Messi, the coach Lionel Scaloni and many players took to the field with their families, moved when the fans sang the anthem together. Scaloni fielded the same 11 who had faced France in the World Cup final in December. It was supposed to be a celebration more than a soccer match, but Panama took it seriously and lasted 78 minutes. Messi hit the post in the first half, tried twice from free-kicks in the second, and Angel Di Maria also came close to scoring. The goal came with Almada, who came on in the second half, who netted the rebound from a free-kick from Messi. A minute from the end, Messi then converted another free kick: goal into the top corner. And at the end of the match, all the Panama players paid homage to him: they lined up for a selfie or an autograph with the World Cup star. And the World Cup awards ceremony was staged in the stadium: trophies for everyone and a party.
March 24 – 09:05
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