LIONEL MESSI lit up the Club World Cup with a majestic winner that fans reckon should earn him a NINTH Ballon d’Or.
The iconic attacker conjured incredible curl to flash home a free-kick as Inter Miami stunned Portuguese giants Porto with a 2-1 comeback victory.
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David Beckham’s team went wild after 37-year-old Messi’s deadball detonation left viewers claiming the Argentine was as good as ever.
One fan raved: “He is incredible! Messi is from another planet! Give him the ballon d’Or!”.
Another wrote: “The curl on that! What a goal from the greatest ever.”
And a third posted: “You don’t leave the legend with a foul like that to score the goal.”
If anything, Messi’s strike looked even better when seen on the innovative Ref Cam.
It showed the ex-Barcelona hero making his magic look easy as,,with barely any backlift, he whipped the ball home from a central position just outside the penalty area ‘D’.
Miami had roared back after Samu Aghehowa’s early penalty opener for Porto in front of 31,783 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
And in fact that spot-kick was a soft decision, following a VAR intervention when Noah Allen was spotted making slight contact on Joao Mario.
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Venezuela midfielder Telasco Segovia thumped Miami level just 96 seconds into the second half.
And Messi – the night’s star performer for so much more than his goal – completed the turnaround seven minutes later with his vintage swerver.
Porto did pour forward late on, with Aghehowa blazing high.
But Becks’ MLS club now share top place in Group A with Palmeiras, both on four points from two games.
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