Lionel Messi’s First Career Bicycle Kick Goal Was Worth The Wait

Lionel Messi’s done a whole bunch of incredible stuff over the course of his footballing career. One thing that has evaded the Paris Saint-Germain star, however, is scoring a goal by way of a bicycle kick — despite scoring hundreds and hundreds of goals in his prolific career for both club and country, Messi has never been able to bike one in.

But Saturday offered up a chance for him to change that, as PSG played Clermont Foot 63 in a Ligue 1 game. PSG ran them off the pitch, picking up a 5-0 win thanks in part to a pair of goals by Messi later in the game. Messi scored his first in the 80th minute, and then, he was afforded the opportunity six minutes later to do one of the few things he’s never done.

Thanks to a lovely ball over the top of Clermont’s entire team by Leandro Paredes, Messi found himself in a familiar position with no one between himself and the goal other than the goalkeeper. The catch: Messi had to turn his back and chest the ball down, but instead of taking a touch, turning, and slotting it into a corner, Messi took the ball off his chest, opted to bike it, and perfectly lofted the ball over the head of Clermont keeper Mory Diaw.

It was a thing of beauty, and you can tell from the look on Messi’s face that he was overjoyed that he added a bicycle kick goal to his laundry list of accomplishments. If he’s lucky, this will be the start of a season in which he does the one other thing that has evaded him throughout his otherwise peerless career: win the World Cup with Argentina.