Argentina head coach Gerardo Martino has insisted that Lionel Messi will break Gabriel Batistuta's international goalscoring record, after the Barcelona forward netted twice against Bolivia in a friendly on Friday.
Batistuta holds the current goalscoring record for Argentina with 56 strikes, while the brace against Bolivia was Messi's 47th and 48th goal for his country.
Martino now believes that Messi will reach Batistuta's total, despite only playing the forward for just the second half during the friendly in Texas.
"I am sure Leo will catch Batistuta as the team's leading scorer, he is getting closer," Martino told reporters after the match.
"It is logical that the people who pay for tickets and the organisers of the games want to see Messi playing.
"But we had to think carefully about him because he has played a lot of games. Luckily, in a short time, he made it worth the price of admission."
Argentina thrashed Bolivia 7-0 in the friendly, with Sergio Aguero and Ezequiel Lavezzi both netting a brace while Angel Correa added himself to the scoresheet.
Sam McEvoy
