Buenos Aires . Lautaro Martínez has registered his name in Argentina's history with his goal against Peru. He has equaled Diego Armando Maradona's tally of 32 goals with the national team.
Martínez, who had 31 goals, was one goal away from equaling Maradona (32) in ranking as the top scorer in Argentine history. Lionel Messi (112) leads this list.
Martínez's secondhalf volley cemented top spot for Argentina in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers as Lionel Messi's side beat Peru 10 on Wednesday (IST).
Martínez said, “It's been a great year in terms of performances, goals and matches played. We have to keep playing and improve day by day. Everyone wants to beat us. The Argentina national team is always the hero.” 'There are some things to improve, but we have to continue on this path.'
The 27yearold striker scored his 11th international goal of 2024 on Wednesday. With this he became only the third man to score 10 goals in a calendar year for Argentina, after Gabriel Batistuta (12 in 1998) and Messi (12 in 2012 and 18 in 2022).
With this win, Argentina remains at the top of the table with 25 points from 12 matches, five points ahead of Uruguay. Peru is in the bottom position with only seven points. Argentina are undefeated in their last 18 matches against Peru in the South American qualifiers (W12 D6). This is the best undefeated streak for the Albiceleste against any single team in the history of the tournament. Argentina have not conceded a goal in 10 of their last 11 home matches in the South American qualifiers (W9 D1 L1). The exception was the defeat to Uruguay in November 2023 (02).
Argentina assistant coach Walter Samuel said, “The boys are very hungry to keep winning and to continue competing. Sometimes it happens like it happened today, and sometimes it happens like it happened with Bolivia (60 win). We slipped against Paraguay, but this team never hides.
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Image Credit: KhasKhabar.