lionel messi
SoccerBy Matt Lichtenstadter on

Lionel Messi did not play in Argentina’s first game of the Copa America Centenario against Chile. He did not start against Panama, despite indications from Tata Martino and the Argentina staff that he would. He did come off the bench as a second half substitute with Argentina up 1-0 against 10 man Panama.

Then, Messi made magic.

Here’s his first goal:

And his second, which in typical Messi free-kick fashion, breaks the laws of time and space:

https://twitter.com/CauldronICYMI/status/741470113870778368

And for his hat trick:

Nobody better on the planet. Just sit back and soak it in. If you’re in Seattle next Tuesday, Messi is coming.

 

About Matt Lichtenstadter

Recent Maryland graduate. I've written for many sites including World Soccer Talk, GianlucaDiMarzio.com, Testudo Times, Yahoo's Puck Daddy Blog and more. Houndstooth is still cool, at least to me. Follow me @MattsMusings1 on Twitter, e-mail me about life and potential jobs at matthewaaron9 at Yahoo dot com.

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