At 39 years old and nearing the end of his journey with the Argentina national team, Lionel Messi continues to defy time and logic, scoring goals and proving why he remains one of the best players on the planet.<\/p>\n
The Argentine superstar keeps finding new ways to surprise the world. Every week, he delivers another moment of brilliance, breaks another record, or scores a goal that seems impossible. Age does not appear to be a factor for a player who still performs as if he were in his twenties.<\/p>\n
Clint Dempsey leaves Messi out of MLS\u2019 Mount Rushmore of international players<\/p>\n
And against Columbus Crew, in his final official match with Inter Miami before traveling to Argentina to join the Scaloneta, he delivered another masterpiece.<\/p>\n
This time, it came through one of his most lethal weapons: a left-footed free kick from an almost impossible angle that curled into the far post, completely out of reach for goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.<\/p>\n
Messi is two free kicks away from history<\/p>\n
With this goal, the Argentine reached 76 free-kick goals in his career and moved within just two of the all-time record held by Brazilian Marcelinho Carioca, who leads the list with 77.<\/p>\n
A milestone that appears destined to fall soon for a player who has made the extraordinary feel routine.<\/p>\n
Messi\u2019s recent free-kick form is further proof of his brilliance: he scored against San Diego in the 2-2 draw, converted twice from set pieces against Montreal in the 7-1 win, and also found the net against Jordan with Argentina, New York City, and Orlando City.<\/p>\n
It is just another chapter in a staggering number: 931 goals in Lionel Messi\u2019s professional career.<\/p>\n
The goal also comes at a special moment for the Argentine. After suggesting that his farewell from the Argentina national team could be approaching, the match against Benin could become one of his final chapters wearing the Albiceleste jersey.<\/p>\n
A goodbye that, whenever it arrives, will be felt not only by Argentina fans but by the entire football world.<\/p>\n
When Messi defies logic<\/p>\n
The play looked designed for a cross. The free kick was almost on the end line, but Messi had other plans.<\/p>\n
The Argentine curled the ball with his left foot, sent it over the wall with perfect precision, and placed it into the far corner beyond Patrick Schulte\u2019s reach.<\/p>\n
A masterpiece that allowed Messi to rescue a draw for Inter Miami against Columbus Crew, after Josef Mart\u00ednez had opened the scoring from the penalty spot.<\/p>\n
Another piece of magic. Another record within reach. Another reminder that time simply does not seem to pass for Messi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At 39 years old and nearing the end of his journey with the Argentina national team, Lionel Messi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-629752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}