Messi's new record: he became the footballer with the most goals excluding penalties

After scoring a brace in the recent 5-1 thrashing of Inter Miami against the New York Reds, Lionel Messi achieved yet another milestone in his career. The Rosario native became the player with the most non-penalty goals in the history of football.

With those goals against the New York team, the captain of the Argentina National Team raised his total number of goals, excluding those scored from the penalty spot, to 764, thus surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 763 goals under this same distinction. The most striking aspect is that number 10 reached this mark having played 167 fewer matches than the Portuguese star.

At 38 years old, Messi continues to add milestones to his career and reaffirms his place as one of the greatest goal scorers of all time. He also continues to maintain numbers that would be a dream for any player, since in the current season with Las Garzas he has scored 18 goals and provided 7 assists in 18 matches.

Mascherano's words after the victory

Javier Mascherano spoke at a press conference after his team's win and referred to the performance of his former teammate at Barcelona and the Argentina National Team.

"In the end, I think any sports fan, not just football fans, feels admiration for this type of athlete, whether it's Lionel Messi, Michael Jordan in his time, Rafa Nadal," he explained.

Along the same lines, he added: "They're people who have transcended sports and, well, the reality is that those of us who have the opportunity to experience this up close are very privileged."