Argentine footballer, Lionel Messi, showed off his accuracy during some training when he casually kicked a ball 50 yards across the football pitch to nutmeg a reporter.
One of the world’s best players, the footballer appeared in Adidas’ latest advert ‘Here To Create’, which was shared on Twitter yesterday (August 17).
Adidas haven’t specified exactly what they’re ‘here to create’, but if it’s shock and awe, then they’ve used a good video for it.
In the ad, Messi appears to be at football training. He kicks the ball into the air, glances over to a reporter on the other side of the pitch before kicking the ball again, this time making it arc towards the reporter who’s 50 yards away.
Watch the casual performance in the video below:
Messi just walks away like he knew where he was going to place it all along – nothing really that new there then!
The ball lands and bounced towards the seemingly unsuspecting reporter, slowing to a roll as it continues directly through the man’s legs.
The reporter looks down at the ball, then turns to find the culprit behind the nutmeg.
A lot of viewers have been blown away by the scene, commenting of their amazement at the video.
One person wrote:
Magical as always. King
Another tweeter suggested Messi wasn’t even human, writing:
The best Alien in this planet [sic]
A third seemed very confident in his view of the former Barcelona captain:
Leo Messi is the best football player in history and the best football player in the world.
The video has been liked more than 60,000 times, and shared over 30,000 times on Twitter, but a lot of people aren’t entirely convinced by the display.
Given that the video is being used in an advert, some people are claiming it’s actually been edited so it just appears as if the footballer can kick a ball through someone’s legs across the full width of a pitch.
Admittedly, if he’d missed, it probably wouldn’t be a very impressive advert for Adidas.
One eagle-eyed viewer suggested the shadows in the video meant it couldn’t possibly be real, writing:
Its a fake video because when Messi juggles the ball there is shadow of the ball. So Messi fans don’t get too exited.
Another said something along the same lines:
Don’t get me wrong,I am a huuuuge Messi fan,
But this has to be fake…why?
The ball lost its shadow.
This is an ed. [sic]
Messi is no stranger to the nutmeg, and some fans have been sharing previous examples of his quality on the pitch:
It seems the Argentine player isn’t afraid of making a fool out of anyone when it comes to football – not even his own dog.
A cute video shows Messi teasing his dog with the ball, kicking it over the animal’s head every time it thinks it’s got a chance of getting hold of it.
Watch the funny footage here:
While the sceptics might need to see the the player’s nutmegging skill live to believe it, there’s no doubting Messi is one of the greatest!
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to stories@unilad.co.uk.
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.