Lionel Messi scored zero World Cup goals at 23. He has scored 19 in six tournaments since then. Something about the conventional story of athletic decline does not apply to him. The question worth asking is not how long he can keep going. It is why he keeps getting better.
Against Austria, he missed a ninth-minute penalty, then scored twice to break Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup record. He then came off the bench against Jordan to ping in a free kick.
Watch the record-breaking goal against Austria. Messi receives wide, near the touchline, with two Austrian defenders close. He does not dribble or run, playing it first time to the other side of the pitch, creating a four versus two, already moving to the near post before the ball leaves his foot. Every defender in that block had already shifted towards him. That fear created the space on the other side. Messi standing still in the right place is the most dangerous thing happening on a football pitch.
Most players run and then deal with the ball. Messi runs as though the ball is not there, as though controlling it costs nothing, takes nothing from the stride. At full pace he moves the way other players move when unburdened. The ball simply accompanies him.
Joao Pedro, who faced him at the Copa America, explained it on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel. “It’s difficult to explain him, you know? He’s not tall, he don’t look strong, but he hold players, he don’t drop, he stay there. The team run for him. Every ball they getting back, they pass to Messi. You know, he move and they come. It’s like how you say, magic.” He paused. “If he get the ball near to the area” [laughter] “problems”.