Messi Is Having The Greatest Individual Season In America

If there were any doubts about Lionel Messi coming to MLS to play, they were gone in the first game of the season. The play was one of those slapstick twists that American football has elevated into an art form. Real Salt Lake defender Andrew Brody collapsed, and Messi produced one of the most laughable and disrespectful moments of his career, turning the ball over his body with one brilliant touch, stepping past those around him and gathering it in stride to fire a shot on target even to Messi's Inter Miami teammates. They couldn't believe what they had just seen. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, the guy hit it at full speed and made a shot,'” says midfielder Julien Gressel, who was standing a few yards away. “This would have been the goal of the season for me, and probably the best goal I would have ever seen in my life if it had been scored.” This is what happens when the greatest kicker of all time takes his talents to South Beach At 36 years old, Messi could skip training to sip yerba mate under an umbrella, and fans would still flock to see him play for Inter Miami instead, like LeBron James or... Tom Brady, in the twilight of his career, is stubbornly adding to his legacy, long after everyone else's body has given up. A few months after winning his eighth Ballon d'Or, Messi continues to develop his game in interesting ways. He will return to the global spotlight this summer, when he joins Argentina for the Copa America, but even against the likes of Sporting Kansas City and New England Revolution, every remaining minute of his football is an unmissable delight. And along the way, Messi is now having perhaps the greatest season in MLS history For anyone who has watched Barcelona in the past decade, Inter Miami's roster can look strangely familiar and ahead of Messi, his old strike partner Luis Suarez is still scoring goals in the past. Scary clip. Behind them, defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets arranges the game with careful precision.