SANTA MONICA – As the final touches are put on the stadiums, beer cases stacked up by the thousands, and Official World Cup memorabilia is ready to sell, Russia is well prepared for the World Cup kick off on June 14. However, World Cup teams are warming up their legs on the pitch with international friendlies. Creating a splash in the friendlies is Argentina’s, Lionel Messi.
On Tuesday night, Messi took some warning shots in his match against Haiti. The star forward claimed a hat trick in the 4-0 Argentinian victory.
The action started early as Messi, in the 17th minute, scored a PK to put his team up 1-0. While the rest of the first half groaned on in silence, he made the stadium roar in excitement twice more, putting two more goals in in the 58th and 66th minutes of regulation play. Sergio Agüero concluded Argentina’s night with a goal three minutes later.
But the game was never a competition as Argentina dominated every aspect of the match. The Argentines went 11 for 21 for shots on goal while Haiti saw their singular shot on goal fly far and away. Unsurprisingly, the Argentines came out on top of the ball, possessing 76 percent of the play compared to Haiti’s 24. The only category Haiti claimed as their own was fouls, accumulating 13 of them and two yellow cards.
Argentina will play its final pre-World Cup friendlies on June 9 against Israel before facing Iceland on June 16 in their debut match in Russia.
