Lionel Messi marked his 100th international victory with two goals as Argentina edged closer to Italy’s world record unbeaten streak with a 3-0 defeat of Jamaica in a World Cup warm-up friendly in New Jersey on Tuesday.
Paris Saint-Germain superstar Messi took his international goals tally to 90 in 164 appearances after coming on as a second-half substitute at the Red Bull Arena.
Messi’s goals capped an emphatic win for the South Americans, who have now gone 35 games unbeaten in a streak stretching back to 2019 – just two shy of Italy’s world record unbeaten run of 37 set between 2018 and 2012.
Messi, who also scored twice during a friendly win over Honduras in Miami on Friday, delighted the crowd with an electrifying cameo after coming on in the 56th minute for Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez.
He bagged his first of the night in the 86th minute, darting forward before caressing a shot into the bottom corner past Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake.
The 35-year-old seven-time Ballon D’Or winner then produced an impish second goal, craftily curling a low shot underneath the Jamaican wall into the bottom corner from a free-kick.
Messi was reported to be suffering flu-like symptoms before the match and came off the bench in the 56th minute. One fan came onto the pitch late on and Messi signed the shirtless intruder’s back before he was hauled away by security.
Neymar converted a penalty in Brazil’s 5-1 thrashing of 10-man Tunisia, his 75th international goal, despite having lasers pointed at his face. He is behind only three-time World Cup winner Pele’s record of 77.
Things went from bad to worse for Tunisia before half-time as Dylan Bronn brought down Neymar and was harshly sent off after a brief melee between the two teams.
Richarlison had just scored the team’s second goal in a 5-1 win at Parc des Princes when the banana was hurdled toward him and the other Brazilians celebrating near one of the corner flags. What appeared to be a water bottle and another object also were thrown toward them.
Brazil was using the match to make a statement against racism, with the players posing before kickoff in front of a sign that said: “Without our black players, we wouldn’t have stars on our shirt” — a reference to the five stars above the team crest that represents its five World Cup titles.
The Brazilian soccer federation condemned the incident and reinforced its stance to “fight against racism.”
The federation’s president said he was shocked by what happened.
“The punishment for these actions needs to be more severe,” Ednaldo Rodrigues said.
Brazilian media said stadium security personnel unsuccessfully tried to identify the person who threw the banana onto the field.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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