LIONEL MESSI produced a wonderous no-look assist against the Netherlands en route to the World Cup final.
But now new footage has emerged showing Messi created a carbon copy of the goal before he made it pro.
The clip, which emerged on Twitter, showed footage of Messi’s incredible assist against the Netherlands paired with the footage of a young Messi in a youth football game.
As the clips play out, the similarities are unmistakable.
In both, Messi dribbles with the ball infield as he shakes loose his markers - with the only difference being him shaking off two defenders as a kid as opposed to only Nathan Ake in Qatar.
After creating a bit of space for himself, he then plays an incisive pass into the path of a team-mate who slots the ball home.
Fans online were left raving about the striking similarities.
One user said: “Was destined to be the greatest from the very beginning. ðŸ”;
A second said: “Class is permanent form is permanent for Messi.”;
A third added: “Born to play football. He should not be allowed to retire. 😔;
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Another user joked: “The Dutch had 25 years to prepare for that smh (shake my head).”;
Messi has been enjoying a fantastic World Cup in Qatar thus far and has helped guide his nation to the final, where they will face the challenge of reigning champions France - 17 years on from Messi being sent off 40 seconds into his international debut .
He produced a particularly mesmerising performance against Croatia in the semi-final which left one of the defenders of the tournament - Josko Gvardiol - looking like an amateur.
However, Gvardiol took it in his stride and declared he was glad to play against Messi despite being on the losing side against Argentina .
Messi’s exploits saw a crowd of fans flock to a house which had been reported to be his Grandma’s , however it turned out to be the wrong house in his hometime.
