Saturday, 11 June 2016

Copa America 2016: Substitute Lionel Messi gets hat trick in 18 minutes as Argentina beat Panama 5-0

Football Superstar Lionel Messi entered the game as a sub in the 61st minute and scored three goals in short order to propel Argentina to a 5-0 rout of Panama in a Copa America Group D match on Friday night at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Messi, coming off a back injury, replaced Augusto Fernandez and wasted no time, finding the net in the 67th minute to boost Argentina's lead to 2-0. He scored again in the 78th and 87th minute for his 10th multi-goal game and fourth international hat trick for Argentina.

Nicolas Otamendi opened the scoring in the seventh minute and Sergio Aguero capped the night for Argentina with a goal in the 90th minute. Argentina stay on top of the Group D standings with six points from two games.