Luis Suarez is no stranger to seeing Lionel Messi do the impossible, yet the Inter Miami striker was stunned by what he saw against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.
The Herons returned to winning ways in Missouri as both Messi and Suarez returned to the scoresheet in a 3-2 win against Sporting Kansas City, with the Argentine international adding an assist to his performance.
Winning praise from rival manager Peter Vermes, Messi’s display on the road was arguably one of the best the 36-year-old has enjoyed so far in an Inter Miami shirt, with the forward looking as fit as he ever has since moving to MLS.
And there was one moment from Messi against Sporting Kansas City that surprised even Suarez.
Suarez stunned by Messi’s assist for Inter Miami vs Sporting Kansas City
Speaking on MLS’s Extratime podcast, pundit Matt Doyle noted how Messi’s assist to Diego Gomez surprised even Suarez, who seemingly was not aware his attacking teammate was going to have the vision or the awareness to pick out the on-running Paraguayan midfielder.
Indeed, the assist was a classic from Messi’s catalog, yet the quality of the pass was one that caught everyone off-guard, including Suarez, who knows the Argentine forward better than anyone.
Doyle said when detailing Messi’s assist against Sporting Kansas City: “The goal was great, but the pass… you can say ‘oh Kansas City gave him too much space’, but that pass even surprised Luis Suarez.
“If you go back and watch the clip for the pass, Suarez thinks Messi just miss-hit the pass, it takes him a second to react to it and to realize there’s a run coming in from Gomez, it was an absurd pass and the type of play only Messi makes look normal, and it’s why he’s the greatest.”
Messi is showing he still has new tricks to pull off in MLS
Even at 36-years-old and achieving everything there is in soccer, Messi is still showing in MLS that he still has some new tricks to pull off that are confusing even his closest teammates.
Messi’s assist on Saturday was a moment of pure quality from the Argentine, with the veteran attacker putting on one of his best performances yet for Inter Miami in a game that the Herons simply had to win.
And we could soon see more moments of incredible genius from Messi if MLS teams continue to give the Argentine the space to work his magic, with opposing sides yet to discover how to mark the reigning Ballon d’Or holder.