Argentina captain Lionel Messi says he will not celebrate the achievement of reaching 1,000 career appearances, although he did move above Diego Maradona in a certain record.
The 35-year-old found the back of the net as the South American champions defeated Australia 2-1 to secure a spot in the quarter-finals.
Messi Inspires Argentina To WC Last 8 In 1000th Appearance
Messi reached an impressive milestone of 1,000 career appearances on Saturday evening and capped it off with a lovely goal in the first half.
It was Messi's first knockout goal at a World Cup and his ninth overall, which saw him overtake Maradona as the country's second-highest scorer at a World Cup with nine goals, one behind leading scorer Gabriel Batistuta.
"I am very happy for taking another step forward, achieving another objective," Messi said, as per ESPN.
"It was a very strong and difficult match -- we knew it was going to be this way. We didn't have much time to rest up and we were concerned as we knew it was going to be a physical match and they were very strong."
When asked if he would be celebrating his 1,000th appearances, he added," "No, truly no. This was a tough game, tough game, we didn't have much rest, we had not really recovered well. It was a very physical game as well.
"When we found out we had to play again in three days, we said it was crazy and not enough rest, but at the same time we wanted to be here for what it feels like and for what this represents and for our fans."
Overall, the Paris Saint-Germain star has registered an impressive 789 goals in 1,000 career appearances.
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