Lionel Messi scored a brace in Argentina's 4-1 victory over Bolivia in their final 2021 Copa America group stage game on Monday night.
The Barcelona forward, however, kicked off the Albiceleste's thrashing of the Verde with a joy-to-watch assist for Papu Gomez's opener at Arena Pantanal.
After receiving the ball from Angel Correa around the opposition's penalty box, Leo outplayed at least four Bolivia defenders with a brilliant chip pass to the Sevilla attacker who opened the scoring in the 6th minute.
That was Messi's 148th appearance for Argentina - the most the national team's history.
RELATED NEWS
Leo Messi becomes most capped Argentina player in history as he scores brace in Bolivia win
Lionel Messi has broken Javier Mascherano's record for most Argentina appearances in history in the Albiceleste's 4-1 win over Bolivia in their final 2021 Copa America group stage game on Monday night.
The Barcelona icon has now featured for his national team 148 times in his career.
The 34-year-old marked the special occasion with two goals and one assist in the opening 45 minutes of the encounter.
Messi has now netted 75 and set up 54 assists for Argentina.
Leo's heroics also helped the Albiceleste to finish top of their group and thus reach the tournament's quarter-final where they'll face Ecuador on Sunday.
Luis Enrique destroys journalists when asked again about endless ‘Messi vs Ronaldo’ debate
"If you check through your newspaper archives, you already knew what my opinion is and I don't think it will be ideal for me again to comment on who is the best player in the world for me," Luis Enrique said of the Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate in October 2020, as quoted by AS.
Enrique, who coached Messi at Barcelona between 2014 and 2017, obviously rates Leo over Cristiano. However, the Spain boss went on to hail both iconic rivals who are showing no signs of slowing down despite their age.
"What is worthy of praise is the fact that players like Cristiano and Leo Messi keep getting older but maintaining such a high-level thanks to their professionalism, their ambition and their capacity to be motivated and keep achieving goals," Enrique concluded.
"Both Cristiano and Messi are examples of that."
