Messi closes in on Batistuta's Argentina record
Reuters
Barcelona wizard Lionel Messi scored from the penalty spot during Argentina's 2-0 defeat of Bolivia Tuesday, marking a half century of goals for the country in 107 appearances.
The total leaves Messi just six goals shy of Gabriel Batistuta's national record of 56. The man nicknamed Batigol scored his 56 goals in an absurd 78 matches, a clip of one every 1.4 games.
| Rank | Player | Goals | Active |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabriel Batistuta | 56 | No |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | 50 | Yes |
| 3 | Hernan Crespo | 35 | No |
| 4 | Diego Maradona | 34 | No |
| 5 | Sergio Aguero | 32 | Yes |
| 6 | Gonzalo Higuain | 25 | Yes |
| 7 | Luis Artime | 24 | No |
| 8 | Daniel Passarella | 23 | No |
| 9 | Leopoldo Luque | 22 | No |
| 10 | Jose Safilippo | 22 | No |
"I'm happy with goal number 50 but more because we won and this helps to keep growing," said Messi according to BBC Sport.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is already Barcelona's all-time leading scorer with 449 tallies in all competitions, meaning that Saturday's El Clasico tilt with rivals Real Madrid could see the pint-sized merchant of dizzying runs score his 500th career goal.
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