Argentina head coach Gerardo Martino praised captain Lionel Messi after his 25-minute double against Bolivia moved him closer to his nation’s all-time goalscoring record.

Gabriel Batistuta currently holds the accolade with 56 strikes for his country, but the Barcelona attacker is fast approaching the retired striker after his latest two strikes took his overall total to 48. Despite starting Friday’s friendly in Texas from the substitutes’ bench, Messi got in on the act as Argentina thrashed Bolivia 7-0, with Sergio Aguero and Ezequiel Lavezzi also netting