Nigeria, March 29 -- A few days after celebrating the special recognition accorded him with a statue at the South America Football Association headquarters, Lionel Messi is in another celebratory mood.

After another masterclass performance for the reigning world champions in an international friendly, Messi has now reached and even surpassed the landmark 100 goals for Argentina.

Messi took just 37 minutes to score a hat-trick in a 7-0 thrashing of Curacao on Tuesday.

The well-taken goals ensured the 35-year-old became just the third player to hit over a century at the international level, joining Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (122) and Iran's Ali Daei (109) in achieving the feat.

Messi, who is also the first male South American player ...