While football icon, Lionel Messi has enjoyed a lush career, he has been relentless in his pursuit of victory and moved on to increase his achievements in yesterday’s 2025 international friendly against Angola where he netted his first professional career goal in Africa. The goal was pivotal in Argentina’s 2-0 victory at Luanda, while Messi stole the show with a star performance.
The 38 year old controlled the tone of the game for the entirety of the play with creativity and precision. Meanwhile, the hosts looked promising earlier on in the game with high pressure, but Argentina were able to curtail their runs with experience.
The Argentine team showed collective play and dominated possession while goalkeeper, Geronimo made several key saves to maintain their hold on the game.
Match Summary
The game was balanced in the opening minutes as Argentina sought to take control of the possession with constant, well-organized pressure, but Angola were very much in the game. As time went by, Angola looked to be the better team as most of the action was in the visitor’s half with noticeable signs of danger from Zito and Nzoia.
The hosts made a great effort in the 11th minute when Modesto move at goal ended in a corner that was only narrowly missed. Moments later, the Angolan goalkeeper Rulli made a tremendous save to keep the game level.
The visitors gained significant control in the 24th minute and applied constant pressure creating great opportunities. One of such opportunity was missed by Messi who received a threaded pass from Thiago Almada but was unable to convert sending his shot wide. Four minutes later, Argentina took the lead after a brilliant ball from Messi found Lautaro Martinez who fired into the net.
Argentina extended their lead in the second half, this time, with an assist from Lautaro Martinez to Messi, who sends the ball home.
Upcoming games
Angola will head to South African on December 22, 2025 for the Group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations.
