![]() ![]() Depending on mood and mischief, he would choose instep or outstep, in-swinger with an out-swinger’s technique or the other way round, bend, burn or wobble. Sometimes the two toes behind the ball, sometimes three, sometimes the whole set of five. The Brazilian was almost supernatural, an alchemist who had different techniques. There could not be a more divergent trio. The free-kick goal against Ecuador was Messi’s 58th for club and country, 20 fewer than free-kick virtuoso Juninho Pernambucano, and one more than Cristiano Ronaldo. Then blew the whistle and Messi stepped in, two simple steps, a swipe of his left foot and the ball traced a long, sharp arc towards the top corner, swerving past Galíndez’s flailing left claw.Īnother Messi freekick in Copa America. But it’s one thing seeing, another thing stopping. He could pre-empt the shot and its destination. ![]() ![]() He had a defender sprawled on the turf, in case Messi attempted a grass-cutter. An almost full view of Messi, through the space between the Ecuadorian wall and two isolated Argentine shirts. Goalkeeper Hernán Galíndez carefully assembled the human wall, surveying and resurveying the angles, imagining and reimagining the trajectory, whip and curl, before taking his position, a fraction left of centre. ![]()
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