Luis Suarez's spectacular Chilean goal to beat Lionel Messi in a historic battle

It was a 0-0 spiked in Santiago between Chile and Uruguay for the last date of the South American Qualifiers. But Celeste opened the score eleven minutes before the end with a spectacular goal by Luis Suárez with a Chilean woman after a nice group combination. That goal, due to its bill and at the time of the match, demoralized the trans-Andeans who had to win and wait for other results to try to reach the Repechage for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

At 79 minutes from the start of a corner kick in which Ronald Araújo won the head and assisted Suarez, who with his acrobatic play inside the small area sent her inside. The Gunman entered 28 minutes into the first half to replace the injured Edison Cavani. From the first minute on the field of play the Atlético de Madrid attacker showed his hierarchy.

And the majesty of his goal was not the only thing to highlight about Suarez, as he also reached a historic mark: he is the top scorer of the South American Qualifiers with 29 scores in 58 matches. In this way, the Gunman beat Lionel Messi by one, who has 61 matches in the Conmebol standings. Although La Pulga still lacks a match that is the classic against Brazil, that match of which only five minutes were played in São Paulo and would be played in June, after La Finalissima, the clash that will have on the 1st of that month against Italy.

That's why Suarez will have to cross his fingers so that his friend does not turn Scratch into the clash that would also be played in Europe and that will be a strong preparation for both teams ahead of the World Cup. In addition, against Chile it could have been the Uruguayan's last match in the qualifiers and the same would be for Leo against Brazil.

Both were protagonists with their national teams on the road to South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. For more than a decade they competed at the highest level to collaborate with their teams' World Cup qualifiers. La Pulga had its debut earlier, in 2005, when it officially debuted in the 2-0 victory against Peru at the Monumental Stadium, but that team of José Néstor Pékerman was already qualified for Germany 2006.

The numbers of both show their validity. The gunner charrua celebrated his 35th birthday on January 24 and the Argentine crack will turn them on June 24. Far from falling in their performances, their level remained on a new path towards the World Cup and they were once again gravitating to their teams.

Being scorers in a competition as close as the South American Playoffs enhances the numbers that both Suarez and Messi achieved. Every match is final because of the pike that exists between each of the rivals in the region, although they were always up to the task to convert.

This Tuesday Suarez took a play from another game out of the galley and his extreme resource earned him a pirouette in the small area. Leo could not convert, but as often happens, he participated in the play of the Argentine goal, which was converted by Julián Álvarez. If this was the last qualifier they participated in, it will be a milestone because both were at the top of the historical standings. The two are the top scorers of their national teams: Messi with 81 and Suarez with 68.

The podium of the historic scorers in the qualifying rounds is completed by Bolivian Marcelo Moreno Martins, with 22 goals. The gunner of the latter classification was left with 10 shouts after the fall of his team 0-4 to Brazil on the last date. Then Hernán Crespo appears with 19 goals. Messi overcame it when he scored the treble against Ecuador (October 2017) that qualified Argentina to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

HISTORIC TOP SCORERS OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN QUALIFIERS:

Luis Suarez (Uruguay) 29 (60PJ)

Lionel Messi (Argentina) 28 (58 PJ)

Marcelo Martins (Bolivia) 22 (58PJ)

Alexis Sanchez (Chile) 20 (56PJ)

Hernan Crespo (Argentina) 19 (33PJ)

Marcelo Salas (Chile) 18 (32PJ)

Ivan Zamorano (Chile) 17 (24PJ)

Edinson Cavani (Uruguay) 17 (47PJ)

Joaquin Botero (Bolivia) 16 (31PJ)

Agustin Delgado (Ecuador) 16 (33PJ)

Arturo Vidal (Chile) 16 (50PJ)

Felipe Caicedo (Ecuador) 15 (32PJ)

Diego Forlan (Uruguay) 15 (41PJ)

Jefferson Farfan (Peru) 15 (45PJ)

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