Lionel Messi is finding new ways to leave us speechless at the age of 39 | OneFootball

“Lionel Messi is a player who stirs feelings like no other. He turns sport into art,” wrote Gary Lineker back in 2020.

“Every time I watch him, even on his quiet days, there are moments when you just go ‘how does he do that?’ He does things three or four times in one game that I probably never managed once in my entire career. He does things no-one else can.

“I had exactly the same reaction recently when I watched ‘The Last Dance’, the documentary about Michael Jordan. I’m not a basketball fan and have never followed it but I loved that series and you could see Jordan’s absolute greatness shine through.”

It was those words from Lineker’s BBC column that came to mind when watching Messi’s latest display as Inter Miami were held to a 2-2 draw by Philadelphia Union.

Philadelphia had made the brighter start, with 16-year-old prodigy Cavan Sullivan supplying the pass for Indiana Vassilev to open the scoring. Messi then took over, helping create Daniel Pinter’s equaliser with Luis Suarez before firing Miami in front with a trademark left foot finish.

Neil Pierre brought the hosts level in the second half, while VAR ruled out a would-be winner. A messy finish saw Sullivan and Yannick Bright sent off for a minor fracas, with both sides ending up settling for a point.

More than Messi’s goal, or Sullivan’s evident talent, there was one moment in particular that will live longest in the memory – taking us back to Sunday nights on Sky Sports a decade ago, sitting down to watch Barcelona take on a Getafe, a Las Palmas or a Sporting Gijon and just knowing you were guaranteed to be treated to something special.

We’ve seen this a million times before, even as recently as the World Cup. Messi with the bit between his teeth, driving at the defence, showing close control and getting felled by a helpless defender as he approaches the box. Do OPTA have the stats of how many free-kicks he’s won in his career from just inside the D? A thousand? Two?

So far, so Messi. Except the clip continues for a few more seconds, and the little magician manages to drag the ball forward in between both his feet – while simultaneously getting up off the floor –  to burst into the box.

Pure witchcraft.

Unfortunately, the referee had already blown for the foul so we didn’t get a chance to see how this one might’ve developed, but had it resulted in a goal it would’ve surely ranked among his best ever.

Earlier in the game, Messi scored his first goal since the passing of his father. The kind we’ve seen him score dozens of times for Inter Miami already, the kind you’d imagined he’d scored before moving there, where it all just looks far too easy for him. Cutting inside and finishing as if he’s playing a lads and dads match at his sons’ school.

“I don’t know how he gets that out of his feet to find the finish, but that is why he is the greatest player ever,” responded Union interim head coach Ryan Richter.

“He doesn’t need space to find a goal.”

Richter could’ve stopped at “I don’t know how-“.

It’s been two decades, and we’re all perenially asking the same question: how the hell did he do that?