Argentina defeated Guatemala 4-1 Friday night at FedEx Field near Washington D.C. in a friendly with Lionel Messi scoring twice. The first Messi goal vs Guatemala came after a terrible goalkeeper blunder and gave the Inter Miami star the easiest goal of his career.
In the 12th minute Guatemala had a surprise 1-0 lead against the defending world champions. Disaster then struck in the Guatemalan penalty area as goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen had a careless giveaway.
If there’s one guy you don’t want to give the ball away to in front of your goal, it’s Messi.
Messi goal vs Guatemala
Messi would score again in the second half thanks to an immaculate assist from Ángel Di María. This goal increased Argentina’s lead to 4-1.
That assist was sublime.
Lautaro Martínez netted Argentina’s two other goals with a penalty kick in the first half and then finishing off a great team goal in the 66th minute.
The Guatemala fans in attendance had eight glorious minutes to claim that they had a lead against Messi and Argentina. An own goal from Martínez in the fourth minute gave Guatemala a priceless gift.
This was Argentina’s final friendly before they play the Copa América opener against Canada at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.
