With nothing left to prove in his glittering career, Lionel Messi actually achieved a first on Tuesday night.

Twenty four hours after fans swarmed his hotel room with cake and birthday well-wishes, the Argentine star stepped onto the MetLife Stadium field as a newly-minted 37-year-old.

Nothing else, though, has changed about the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, and after laboring for nearly the entire match, he and Argentina finally got their present as Lautaro Martinez fired in a late rebound winner to beat Chile 1-0 in New Jersey.

On the balance, this was a deserved Argentina win, though it started to feel less likely the longer Chile clanged on.

The World Cup winners took a whopping 22 shots to their opponent’s three, but Chile weren’t far from grafting out a tie on a night when Rodrigo De Paul and Julian Alvarez were profligate.

Still, it was Argentina who in large part dictated the match, and their relentless pressure finally paid off with two minutes left in regulation. 

‘It wasn’t expected to see that goal in the last minutes,’ Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said – perhaps humbly – after the match. ‘But we always keep attacking.’

That was largely the tale of both halves, though the early moments of the first 45 were the sort of cagey affair that you might expect from a pair of countries that have twice faced each other in Copa America finals.

Chile, after an incisive Mauricio Isla cross briefly spooked their opponents, initially looked happy to cede possession but grew progressively under pressure as the half wore on. 

The first sign of danger came in the 22nd minute – a literal warning shot from Julian Alvarez, as Nico Gonzalez found him with a neat cross into the box.

The Man City forward’s effort from close range was vastly undercooked and easily caught by Claudio Bravo, but Chile’s cracks had started to show and Argentina smelled blood. 

They’d end a dominant – yet somewhat wasteful – first 45 with 13 shots to Chile’s 0.

De Paul (unsuccessfully) shot from distance several times, while Alvarez also spurned several more half-chances, the most promising of which saw him latch onto a bouncing ball with his head when the Chilean defense fell asleep. 

That chance, like his earlier attempt from Gonzalez’s feed, was easily neutralized by Bravo as it bounced off the ground into the 41-year-old’s arms. 

Messi, awoken after being fouled and left in a heap shortly after Alvarez’s (first) miss, whizzed a shot off the post in the 36th minute from all of 30 yards out.

The earlier foul on Messi – which was quite clumsy – had left him sidelined for several minutes, and Scaloni was asked afterwards if he had had spoken with his star about his condition (he said he had not).

Messi seemed fine for the rest of the match, and Scaloni didn’t seem overly concerned post-match. But the exchange was a subtle reminder of Messi’s footballing mortality. Twenty years at the top takes a toll.

Any such concerns were soon assuaged though.

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In one first half sequence, he effortlessly skipped past several defenders in the middle of the field before dumping it off to a teammate. It was the type of moment he’s so often produced in his two decades of brilliance seen debuting at 17, and in this case, one that also caused a rather partial press box to clap their hands in delight.

But still, Argentina would fail to break the deadlock in the first half.

In the next period, La Albiceleste would pick up where they left off, with Messi orchestrating the first real chance.

He drove through the middle in the 50th minute before supplying Nahuel Molina, who shot straight at Bravo from the right.

Minutes later, Lisandro Martinez found space during a set piece but couldn’t quite get his toe on the ball coming in.

The pressure almost paid off when Bravo pushed a Gonzalez effort onto the crossbar in the 61st minute. It was a sign of Argentina’s mounting frustrations on the night that the midfielder fouled his opponent immediately after, and the tide would briefly start to change in the coming minutes.

After Messi dinked a shot over the bar (in a play ultimately chalked off for offsides anyways), Argentina’s goalie Emi Martinez was finally made to sweat in the 72nd minute.

Chile began to find openings in the heart of Argentina’s defense, and the ball trickled out to Rodrigo Echeverria at the top of the box. He forced a strong low save from Martinez, and found himself even closer with the ball at his feet four minutes later.

Again, Martinez blocked his opponent’s driven attempt, and Chile’s wave of attacks would soon wash over. Argentina, however, were not yet done.

‘When the match gets tougher and tougher, they don’t back down,’ Scaloni said of his side afterwards. 

With time running out, Messi was compelled to try an Olimpico that didn’t quite squeeze in but forced Bravo to tip over.

The next play saw another corner, a mad scramble around the box after Cristian Romero acrobatically poked the ball towards goal, and a confident sidefoot finish from Martinez into a half-empty net that Argentina ultimately deserved on the night.

MetLife erupted, the favorites snatched all three points and they’ve now booked their spot in the tournament quarterfinals.

How’s that for a birthday gift, Lionel?