Even in the less dazzling goals of his World Cup hat-trick, Lionel Messi’s genius was quietly at work. One needed to look closely. At first glance, his second goal comes across as a plain vanilla poacher’s strike – a simple tap-in from a few meters out of the goalkeeper’s position. Only a second glance, ideally in slow motion, reveals a layer of intrigue in this seemingly open and closed target.
On the frame of the goalkeeper sprawled on the ground, watching the ball helplessly to his left after his futile full-length desperate dive to his right, was Messi’s signature in smooth cursive.
The Argentine great could have easily gone to the keeper’s right and scored – clearly the best option, as all he had to do was swing his right foot and hook the ball. He could have tried the fancier, and often used, option of lobbing the ball at the goalkeeper. But Messi, as usual, took the path less traveled — pushing the ball to the goalkeeper’s left, catching him on the wrong foot. It was a truly implausible option that only occurs to outliers, despite the urgency of the massive target-faced action.
Argentina 🇦🇷 vs Algeria 🇩🇿 World Cup Goal
Messi’s first World Cup hat-trick #Football #fyp #viral #WorldCup #Messy pic.twitter.com/1M8EUIUsbU— Global Football Update (@GlobalFoot110) 19 June 2026
Mortals beat goalkeepers, Messi annihilates them. Maradona and Pele before him would do the same – preferring to go past the goalkeeper instead of just kicking the ball. Again, it’s about signing.
Masters of sports are known for doing things differently. They read the minds of their opponents, expose their limitations, make them look awkward and inadequate. Without intending to, they also belittle them — like the Algerian goalkeeper at this World Cup or Pakistan’s Moeen Khan one April weekend in Multan in 2004. In the latter case, it was leg-spinner Sachin Tendulkar, who embarrassed the wicketkeeper.
It was the last ball of the day and the wicket of the last specialist batsman who proved to be a late thorn for the bowlers would have been invaluable for India. Moeen looked ready to defend the ball and battle on day two of a tight Test. In place of slip, Tendulkar bowled the ball to off middle. The ideal line was to spin the ball towards slip, edge with a forward defensive shot. The line was also good for a straight ball that could have gone lbw.
But, these are the last ball plans that sprout in the minds of common cricketers. Tendulkar will hit a googly from the spot for the leg break. Like Messi’s goal – it didn’t take the expected left turn but an unexpected right turn. The ball would go into Moeen’s legs and hit the top of the leg-stump. Moin walked away unceremoniously. He then played one more Test.
It’s only with a second glance, ideally in slow motion, that a layer of intrigue is revealed in Messi’s seemingly open and closed goals. (AP Photo)
victims of greatness
If fate brings them together, Algeria’s goalkeeper and Pakistan’s wicketkeeper can exchange notes and share the common pain of falling victim to greatness. Even Messi and Tendulkar can talk about the joy they get in overcoming such delightful odds.
Check out a couple of YouTube videos and you can see the GOATs showing childlike joy in their moments of victory, cheering and hugging teammates like teenagers on the school playground. Note also that there is no hint of insulting the losers and not a single muscle of superiority is seen to be flexed. It is the pure joy of executing a carefully planned idea, the result of a lifetime of hard work.
Here’s a handy experiment to understand how geniuses think. The next time you watch Messi, when the ball is at his feet, try to predict which path he and the ball will take. More often than not, you’ll get it horribly wrong. This is to be expected as the top professionals tasked with marking him also regularly pass by the fox. While you would expect a square pass to a teammate free on the wings, it will be a through ball to a striker who has just launched a forward run.
Having spent his entire life in crowded midfields and heavily manned d-zones, Messi knows how to find his way through the maze. From his tiki-taka days in Barcelona, he knows angles and routes that many are unfamiliar with. Born in the country of Maradona, he has a knack for sending the ball in unexpected directions using every centimeter of both feet. Messi has a mind that creates options that even beat the AI-powered computers of sports analysts.
On his 50th birthday, Tendulkar, in a very insightful conversation, gave an insight into how sports geniuses think.
mind games
It was from the 1999 India-Australia Test at Adelaide. The bowling unit had a plan against Tendulkar – they would bowl away from him, make him reach the ball and edge behind the wicket. (Glenn) McGrath bowled him four to five maiden overs. Tendulkar kept dropping the ball. For those on the other side of the line, the Aussies were winning and Tendulkar had been forced into a shell.
This narration brought a smile to Tendulkar’s face. “That evening, to the rest of the world, it looked like I had lost the battle but the Australian team knew I had won the battle. And I knew I had won the battle,” he said.
Years later, Sachin’s dear friend Shane Warne would talk to him about that day. “Those who mattered knew what happened. Warne told me about that meeting later. He said, ‘We’re in trouble, he’s playing a different game’.”
The next morning, Sachin would start by hitting two fours off the balls that landed on the spot he had left the day before. “It was a message that I decided when to play and when to drop the ball.”
Wiser after those words, we’ll ask a follow-up question. How do you get inside a bowler’s head? He said he understood the game better as he bowled a lot. But that was an incomplete answer. Tendulkar added: “Some things cannot be taught.” They just need to be closely observed, appreciated and enjoyed.
Just as Messi scored the second goal of his hat-trick.