Lionel Messi fires home 800th goal as Argentina beat Panama
- Planet Sport writer
- 24 March 2023
Lionel Messi netted his 800th professional goal as Argentina beat Panama 2-0 in their first match since winning the World Cup.
The 35-year-old claimed his 99th international goal from a free-kick after 89 minutes, sending the 83,000 fans at the Monumental de Nunez Stadium in Buenos Aires into raptures during the international friendly.
Substitute Thiago Almada had grabbed the opener 11 minutes earlier after a Messi free-kick had come back off the post.
Manager Lionel Scaloni named the same starting line-up as the World Cup final with the entire squad from Qatar posing for pictures in front of a replica trophy before kick-off.
But they were made to wait for the breakthrough as Panama goalkeeper Jose Guerra produced several saves and the defence fought valiantly to keep out the World Cup champions.
Argentina face Curacao on Tuesday to round off a week which has seen Messi widely celebrated as a hero.
