Buenos Aires, Oct 15 (EFE).- Argentina returned to its winning ways on Tuesday with a crushing 6-0 thrashing of Bolivia to stay at the top of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings with 22 points while Bolivia moved to the playoff zone with 12 points.
A hat trick by Lionel Messi and goals from Lautaro Martínez, Julián Álvarez and Thiago Almada helped the Albiceleste seal its seventh win in 10 appearances and maintain a three-point advantage over second-placed Colombia.
Meanwhile, Bolivia suffered its first setback after three consecutive victories since the arrival of Óscar Villegas.
Messi opened the scoring in the 19th minute, pouncing on a poor ball by Bolivian defender Marcelo Suarez that bounced off Lautaro Martínez.
In the 43rd minute, Julián Álvarez passed the ball to Messi, who squared it to Lautaro Martínez to finish.
Five minutes later, Messi set up Julián Álvarez to score and the home team made it 3-0 before the break.
Argentina’s fourth goal came in the 69th minute as Leandro Paredes played a long ball for Nahuel Molina, who passed it to substitute Thiago Almada to score.
But there was still the final touch to the Argentine captain’s stellar performance: first in the 84th minute when he scored after a low cross by Nahuel Molina and then in the 86th minute on an assist by Nico Paz.
Argentina will now face Paraguay in Asunción and Peru in Buenos Aires, while Bolivia will play against Ecuador in Quito and Paraguay in El Alto. EFE
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