Lionel Messi marked his 100th worldwide victory with two targets as Argentina edged nearer to Italy’s world file unbeaten streak with a 3-0 defeat of Jamaica in a World Cup warm-up pleasant in New Jersey on Tuesday.
Paris Saint-Germain celebrity Messi took his worldwide targets tally to 90 in 164 appearances after approaching as a second-half substitute on the Red Bull Arena.
Messi’s targets capped an emphatic win for the South Americans, who’ve now gone 35 video games unbeaten in a streak stretching again to 2019 – simply two shy of Italy’s world file unbeaten run of 37 set between 2018 and 2012.
Messi, who additionally scored twice throughout a pleasant win over Honduras in Miami on Friday, delighted the gang with an electrifying cameo after approaching in the 56th minute for Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez.
He bagged his first of the night time in the 86th minute, darting ahead earlier than caressing a shot into the underside nook previous Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake.
The 35-year-old seven-time Ballon D’Or winner then produced an impish second objective, craftily curling a low shot beneath the Jamaican wall into the underside nook from a free-kick.
Messi was reported to be struggling flu-like signs earlier than the match and got here off the bench in the 56th minute. One fan got here onto the pitch late on and Messi signed the shirtless intruder’s again earlier than he was hauled away by safety.
Neymar transformed a penalty in Brazil’s 5-1 thrashing of 10-man Tunisia, his seventy fifth worldwide objective, regardless of having lasers pointed at his face. He is behind solely three-time World Cup winner Pele’s file of 77.
Things went from dangerous to worse for Tunisia earlier than half-time as Dylan Bronn introduced down Neymar and was harshly despatched off after a quick melee between the 2 groups.
Richarlison had simply scored the group’s second objective in a 5-1 win at Parc des Princes when the banana was hurdled towards him and the opposite Brazilians celebrating close to one of many nook flags. What appeared to be a water bottle and one other object additionally had been thrown towards them.
Brazil was utilizing the match to make a press release in opposition to racism, with the gamers posing earlier than kickoff in entrance of an indication that mentioned: “Without our black players, we wouldn’t have stars on our shirt” — a reference to the 5 stars above the group crest that represents its 5 World Cup titles.
The Brazilian soccer federation condemned the incident and strengthened its stance to “fight against racism.”
The federation’s president mentioned he was shocked by what occurred.
“The punishment for these actions needs to be more severe,” Ednaldo Rodrigues mentioned.
Brazilian media mentioned stadium safety personnel unsuccessfully tried to determine the one that threw the banana onto the sector.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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