Messi hat trick takes him past Maradona & into joint second in Argentina top scorers list

Argentina have had two recent draws in World Cup qualifying, 0-0 at home to Colombia and 1-1 away to Ecuador, and are now assured of at least a playoff place for Brazil 2014 – one win from their remaining three games is enough to secure their place. On Friday night, they celebrated with a friendly away to Guatemala. Not normally a fixture which would stand out especially, except that Lionel Messi scored a hat trick in a 4-0 win, which took him level with, and then past, Diego Maradona’s 34 goals for the Albiceleste. Messi now has 35, and is level with Hernán Crespo as joint-second top scorer in Argentina’s history. Gabriel Batistuta’s 56 is his next target. Augusto Fernández also chipped in – he scored Argentina’s second. You can see the goals right here.