Lionel Messi lit up the Copa America semifinal on Tuesday night when he led Argentina to a 4-0 rout of hosts, the USA.
The Argentina captain was at his ethereal best after some back problems in the group stages of the tournament.
He scored one and had a hand in everything that was good about his team that the Daily Mail gave him a score of 10.
Messi got the result going as early as the third minute as his chipped pass into the box got on the head of Ezequiel Lavezzi to give Argentina the lead.
He added the second with a sublime free kick in the 32nd minute to kill the game.
Two more goals in the second half from Gonzalo Higuain sealed the emphatic victory and they await the winner of the second semi-final between Chile and Colombia.
Messi got even with Gabriel Batistuta on 54 goals when he scored in the quarter final win over Venezuela but he now stands alone with that record with 55 goals in 112 games for his country.
The goal he scored was a fitting way to break Batistuta’s record – a simply gloriously lofted ball that almost clipped Brad Guzan’s right-hand post.
His manager, Gerardo Martino, had expressed the hope that his captain would break the scoring record and that has now been confirmed.
Messi would now pray for goodluck that he does not end up as a runner-up again after the 2014 World Cup as he bids to end Argentina’s 23-year wait for a major trophy.