A compilation of Lionel Messi's performance for Inter Miami in their dramatic Leagues Cup win against FC Dallas is unsurprisingly going viral.
So far, the seven-time Ballon d'Or has enjoyed a quite remarkable start to life in Florida.
He bagged a wonderful 94th minute free-kick against Cruz Azul on his debut, netted two goals against Atlanta United at the end of last month, and another two goals in a convincing 3-1 victory over Orlando City.
Then, on Sunday night, the World Cup winner's storybook-esque journey continued when he bagged two another brace in their dramatic penalty shoot-out win over FC Dallas.
The 36-year-old gave Inter Miami an early lead in the sixth minute, when he combined with former Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba before arrowing a trademark strike into the bottom corner.He continued to bob and weave around the opposition throughout Sunday's clash at the Toyota Stadium in Texas, delivering perfectly-weighted through balls like they were nothing.
And at 4-2 down, Messi delivered a dangerous cross into the area that resulted in an unfortunate own goal from FC Dallas full-back Marco Farfan.
Five minutes later and Messi would level the scores and force the game to penalties with a moment of magic.
Inter Miami would go on to win the shoot-out 5-3, with Messi scoring their first penalty, as a failed attempt from Dallas midfielder Paxton Pomykal proved pivotal.After the full-time whistle, Inter Miami manager Tata Martino was full of praise for Messi.
"We have the best player in the world. That can't be ignored. When we have our moments, the team is lethal," he said, before being asked where the team would be without Messi.
"This question always gets asked in the places where he is. Someone can bet on what Barcelona would've looked like without Messi, what the Argentina national team would look like without Messi or anywhere he's been.
"Fortunately, we have him, and today he once again showed he's a tremendously important player. The majority of times there's a free kick in this area, and I think only with him do you get the feeling that it's going to be a goal.
"A free kick usually is something where you think it won't be a goal 90 percent of the time, but when he has it, it's the opposite. You think it won't be a goal 10 percent of the time, but the rest it will be."FC Dallas manager Nico Estevez couldn't help but comment on the goal that made it 4-4.
"It's obvious that for him a free kick around there is like a PK for another player. That's it," he said. "I think there's not much to say. Everyone can see it and he's very consistent. You just have to pray the ball goes out of bounds or he falls in the run-up to kick the ball."
