‘A really beautiful moment’ – Messipublished at 07:14 BST
07:14 BST
Argentina 3-0 Algeria
Twenty years ago to the day after Lionel Messi’s World Cup debut as an 18-year-old at Germany 2006, one of the game’s greatest superstars looked as sharp as ever in delivering another spectacular performance on his 200th appearance for his country.
“To enjoy this with my family, with my team-mates, the ones who are always there, is a really beautiful moment,” said the 38-year-old Inter Miami forward after scoring all the goals in Argentina’s opening 3-0 win over Algeria in Kansas City.
“The squad, it’s a very united, very strong group. I feel good; we were lucky enough to win a tough match. It’s important to start off with a win in the first game.
“I’m grateful to the fans, because once again they’ve shown that Argentina is crazy about this – we packed the stadium again.”
Media caption,
Messi scores hat-trick to equal Klose scoring record