Bolivia may have been rolling in World Cup qualifying, but that wouldn’t matter heading into Argentina to face Lionel Messi and La Albiceleste. Messi made his first start in Argentina in 333 days and didn’t disappoint, scoring a goal 19 minutes into the match to put Argentina ahead. By halftime that lead would balloon to 3-0 as Messi added two more assists to his exploits. In true Messi fashion, he didn’t stop there with two goals in two minutes to finish a hat trick in a 6-0 victory over Bolivia.
After laboring to a draw against Venezuela in their last match, this was just what the doctor ordered for Argentina. Everything is made easier with the presence of Messi, who took advantage of defensive miscues from Bolivia to score his opening goal before then turning into a provider.
Assisted by Lautaro Martinez on the opening goal, Messi returned the favor to his strike partner by setting up Martinez, splitting Bolivia’s lines before the devastating finish into an open net. Messi then set up Julian Alvarez for the third goal from a free kick to provide Argentina with an impressive halftime advantage.
After the half, Messi would keep the fun going scoring in the 84th and 86th minutes. That 86th-minute goal was an especially impressive one due to it being assisted by 20-year-old Nico Paz. The Como man came off the bench to make his Argentina debut and it was a memorable one with an assist to Messi to increase Argentina’s lead.
While Messi and Argentina’s current squad are important, it’s also critical to keep an eye on the future, which will be led by players like Paz. This is what one of the best teams in CONMEBOL — and one of the best in the entire world — can do when playing in front of their home faithful. With the victory, Argentina have also snapped their two match winless streak after dropping a match to Colombia before drawing against Venezuela.
