The battle between two contemporaries Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continues. Both talismanic footballers scripted new records on Tuesday. While Ronaldo became the all-time top-scorer in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Messi now has the most number of assists in international football.
Messi achieved the feat in Argentina's 6-0 win against Puerto Rico in an international friendly, which was relocated to Fort Lauderdale from Chicago last week. Officials in Chicago said low ticket sales were to blame; officials with the Argentine soccer federation said the immigration crackdown in Chicago was responsible.
Messi had two assists and helped start a play that led to another goal. Messi flicked a quick lob to set up Gonzalo Montiel's score in the first half and then had a nifty back pass that created Lautaro Martínez's second goal of the night in the 83rd minute.
This took Messi's total assists in international football to 60, one more than his former Barcelona and Paris-Saint Germain teammate Neymar.
Players with most international assists
Lionel Messi (Argentina) - 60
Neymar Jr. (Brazil) - 59
Landon Donovan (United States) - 58
Ferenc Puskan (Hungary) - 53
Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium) - 53
The match was part of Argentina's preparations for the World Cup, which will be played in the US, Mexico and Canada next year from June 11 to July 19.
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Meanwhile, Ronaldo scored a brace, with the first goal in the 22nd minute, which was a simple tap-in. It was his 40th goal in the competition and helped him surpass retired Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz, who previously held the record. Ronaldo added another goal deep into the first-half stoppage and took his tally to 41. This too came off a tap-in and helped Portugal enter 2-1 at half-time.
Despite, Ronaldo's brace the match ended in a 2-2 draw, which delayed their qualification for the World Cup. They will now have to wait until November, sitting on 10 points from four matches, five ahead of Hungary, with both teams having two games remaining. Ireland are third with four points.
-with AP inputs
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