By Tom Beattie
The father of a young child who was struck by a wayward free-kick via the boot of Lionel Messi appeared to see the funny side of the ordeal as he watched Inter Miami from the sidelines.
A family trip to the Chase stadium took an unexpected turn as the Herons' talisman was uncharacteristically wasteful with a set-piece versus Orlando City. En route to a 5-0 victory in the third game of the MLS campaign, the forward sent his effort wide - inadvertently leaving an infant girl in the line of fire.
As the 36-year-old's lofted strike sailed over the crossbar, it cannoned off the advertising hoarding before hitting the unsuspecting kid in the face. Unsurprisingly, the toddler was reduced to tears after the incident, with her family soon gathering around her to offer some comfort.
It seems that the child's father was less perturbed by the debacle, though, clearly still left slightly in awe of Messi in spite of his daughter's disgruntled reaction. He blurted out: "Are you okay, my love? Messi hit you anyway, huh. Nothing's wrong."
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Aside from this rare miss, the Argentine superstar re-discovered his magic touch during the rest of Miami's derby encounter with Orlando with two goals in the win. His first strike of the game came in the 57th minute as he gave Vice City their fourth goal of the night.
This strike was one of the easier goals he has managed to score in his career as he bundled the ball over the line into an empty net after it ricocheted off the bar. His second of the evening came as he was slipped in for a towering header at the back post following a well-weighted chip from Luis Suarez.
This latest goal took Messi onto three goals for the season in total, with Vice City leading the Eastern Conference standings after three games. As the Herons remain unbeaten at this early point in the campaign, their captain spoke positively as he reflected on a crucial victory on home turf.
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Speaking to Apple TV following the win over their local rivals, Messi said: "We are good, we are enjoying, we are growing. Today was an important game to win to continue on that path of growth, and the truth is that this has to make us very strong for everything that is to come."
The World Cup winner was also delighted to see old strike partner Suarez get off the mark in Miami colours, adding: "I’m really happy for him for scoring. Still, we weren’t worried at all. I think Luis, what he’s capable of doing, everybody knows what he can do. It’s like that.
"When you least expect it, he wins the game for you with the goals and the assists. We’re doing well, we’re enjoying, we’re growing. Today it was important to get the win, to stay on this path of growth. And honestly, it makes us stronger for everything that is yet to come."