Messi close to Beckham's free kick record

With his goal against Dallas in the League Cup round of 16, Inter Miami striker Lionel Messi is only one goal away from free kick specialist David Beckham.

In the 85th minute, the visiting team Inter Miami was awarded a free kick from the right side of the wall, the shooting angle was more than 30 degrees, the distance was more than 20 meters. Messi's free kick curved the ball over the wall and hit the dead corner high up to tie the score 4-4 for the home team. A Miami player held his head in amazement at this goal, and this was the second time Messi had taken a free kick in the final minutes to save his team in the last four matches.

Lionel Messi with a free kick against Dallas at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, USA on the evening of August 6, 2023. Photo: Reuters

This was Messi's 64th career free kick, just one behind Beckham and two behind Ronaldinho. Beckham is also the president and co-owner of Inter Miami. However, the Argentine superstar is still 13 goals away from Juninho's record.

In his post-match press conference, home coach Nico Estevez said he was not surprised that Messi scored in that situation. "Free kicks like that for Messi are like penalties for other players. It's that simple," he said. "Everyone saw that. He's so consistent. We could only hope that the ball went wide, or that Messi slipped while running up."

Messi close to Beckham's free kick record

Messi takes a free kick against Dallas FC.

Visiting coach Tata Martino shares the same view as his Dallas counterpart. "With free kicks in that position, Messi is the only player who is expected to score most of the time," he commented. "With other players, free kicks usually have a 90% chance of not scoring. With Messi, a free kick from the wall has a 90% chance of scoring."

If only counting national championships, Messi has a 9% scoring efficiency from free kicks, with 41 goals from 456 free kicks. This rate of Cristiano Ronaldo is 6.4%, with 34 goals from 532 free kicks.

Messi played four games for Miami, only two of which he played the full 90 minutes. The 36-year-old superstar scored seven goals and assisted once, helping his team win all four games and receive all four man of the match awards. Before Messi arrived, Miami had gone nine games without a win, finishing bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference.

Miami will continue to play in the second stage of MLS on August 21 against Charlotte, but before that, they will continue to nurture their hopes of winning the Leagues Cup, having reached the quarterfinals.

Hoang An

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