This close-up video of Lionel Messi’s ridiculous assist vs. Croatia left soccer fans in total awe

Whenever he does hang his cleats up, Lionel Messi will probably be remembered as the greatest soccer player in history. And with his likely last World Cup game on the docket — the 2022 Final this Sunday — he may well capture the one title that has eluded him over his entire career.

During Argentina’s semi-final bout with Croatia, the 35-year-old Messi showed why his trademark dominance has him again on the precipice of soccer’s greatest team honor. The Argentinians, of course, humbled the Croatians in a 3-0 win. And after he scored an easy penalty kick goal, Messi later decided to stunt on his opponent with an exclamation point play/pass that set up Argentina’s third tally.

While there are countless broadcast replays of the Messi highlight, a close-up video from actor Connor Kalopsis at the stadium in Qatar shows just how unbelievably hard the superstar worked before setting up Julián Álvarez on the doorstep. 

It is positively bananas to see from this view:

I mean, COME ON! Messi takes a play that took around 10 seconds to develop and seemingly does it all in the blink of an eye when you see it presented like that.

I’d say other soccer players could replicate what Messi did with his assist, but we all know that probably isn’t true. Messi now leads this World Cup in both goals (6) and assists (5). All he needs is that elusive World Cup title to cap what has been a truly immaculate tournament for the legendary No. 10.

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