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. 🐐”
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.
