Lionel Messi took a long time to reproduce his best Barcelona club form for Argentina but when he did it was an explosion.
His hat-trick in a remarkable 4-3 friendly win over arch-rivals Brazil in New Jersey on Saturday took his tally for the national side to 26 goals in 70 matches and he saved the best until last.
His third goal, six minutes from time at Meadowlands Stadium, was a classic sealed with a trademark run and unstoppable shot into the top corner of the goal from outside the penalty area.
The little ace has not always had it so good. He has had to overcome criticism, some of it severe and even nasty, from fellow Argentines who accused him of being a Catalan and lacking passion for his country.
He never played first division soccer in Argentina, having moved to Barcelona in his early teens, but fans were forgetting that he helped his country's under-20s win the World Youth Cup in 2005.
This year he has scored seven goals in three internationals and while his first two hat-tricks for Argentina have been in friendlies, three goals against five times world champions Brazil is always special.
He is now Argentina's fourth highest scorer behind Gabriel Batistuta (56), Hernan Crespo (35) and Diego Maradona (34) with potentially another decade in front of him in top class soccer.
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