Lionel Messi: Video of Argentina icon destroying Estonia's press is phenomenal | OneFootball

Every football fan knows Lionel Messi is a genius.

He has treated us over the years to hours, days even, of wonderfully beautiful moments with a ball at his feet.

Ever since he burst onto the scene as a young 17-year-old at Barcelona it was clear he was special.

In Catalunya, Messi would go on to make 776 appearances for the club, scoring no less than 670 goals and assisting a further 302 – so it’s hardly a surprise he swept up a record seven Ballon d’Or trophies in his time there.

His career with the Argentinian national team hasn’t been quite as clear cut, though.

Since he was a teenager Messi has been unable to escape the comparisons of him and his hero Diego Maradona.

Maradona famously won the 1986 World Cup for Argentina almost single-handedly, scoring two two of the most iconic goals football has ever seen against England in the quarter-final.

So he’s rightly been put on a pedestal in his home nation and Messi has suffered under the weight of the lofty expectations that his national fan base have of him.

Gabriel Jesus agrees terms (The Football Terrace)

Although, that’s not to say the little genius hasn’t still been incredible on the international stage.

His tally of 86 goals is an impressive feat in itself and just the other day he scored all five as Argentina battered Estonia 5-0.

And whilst that stole the headlines at the time, there was also one other more subtle moment of wizardry that occurred on the night which has recently gone viral on Twitter.

Video: Messi’s magnificent pass

With Estonia pressed high up the pitch, the Argentine team found themselves pinned deep into their own half with a throw-in by their corner flag.

Understandly, none of the players wanted the ball given the minute amounts of space afforded to them by Estonia.

Well, everyone bar Messi. The Paris-Saint Germain star sauntered casually past one of the markers and asked for the ball to be throw into his feet.

As his teammate obliged and the ball came into his possession, Messi, without even looking, just swept the ball across to the opposing side of the pitch without even needing to glance at where he was aiming.

Needless to say, the ball fell perfectly into the path of the Argentina left-back.

Check it out below:

It’s great to see Messi producing magic like this on a regular basis again. His debut season at PSG hasn’t been easy for him due to a number of factors but it seems his form has returned to him since re-joining the national team.

Hopefully, now he’s had time to acclimatise to a new way of life things will pick up for him in the French capital and then who knows, maybe we could see him in a Ballon d’Or race with his teammate Mbappe.

And with the World Cup less than six months away, don’t write him off leading his country to glory at the final time of asking just yet.

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Lionel Messi quiz

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Which city was Lionel Messi born and raised?

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