Time for Liverpool to cash in on Anfield icon Salah

Why Chelsea want Athletic Club's 'incredible' winger Williams

Sorry, Arsenal! Man City are unimpressive but inevitable

bet365 bonus code 365GOAL: Get Free Bet Credits in April 2024

Ballon d'Or Rankings: Salah's slim hopes go up in smoke

Walker's wife sends strong 'stay away' message to mistress

Conte is back! Ex-Chelsea boss set to return to management 

Heartbreak for Hayes! Dreadful decisions ruin fairy-tale ending

Salah backed to leave Anfield after touchline spat with Klopp

35-goal Kane not giving up on breaking Lewandowski record

Ten Hag hits back at Man Utd fans after being booed

Kicked out by Pep & mistakes at Barca - what next for Cancelo?

'Awkward & embarrassed' - Mullin struggling to deal with fame

<p style="display: none;">Article continues below</p><p style="display: none;">Article continues below</p><p style="display: none;">Article continues below</p><ul><li>Argentine icon outsmarts his rivals</li><li>Brain works quicker than others</li><li>Collected record-breaking haul of honours</li></ul><script type="application/json" data-placement="fcplayer-semantic">{"type":"fcplayer-semantic","data":{"embedCode":"//cdn.fcp.codes/embed-code-template/embed-code-template.js#SEMANTIC_5704afb8-c10b-4ba5-9cb4-d7fb6098ef90"}}</script>

Lionel Messi not just better than most, he is smarter too! Inter Miami superstar has ‘gifted intellectual capabilities’ that allow him to make opponents look foolish

Major League Soccer

Inter Miami CF

New York Red Bulls

<p>The Argentine icon, who is now playing his club football at MLS side Inter Miami, has made a career out of making opponents look foolish. That is because he is more talented than them, with his dancing feet <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/44-trophies-lionel-messi-all-time-record-very-good-hands-inter-miami-tata-martino-historic-leagues-cup/blt4c0a84c28d5bf241  " target="_blank">allowing a record-setting haul of honours to be collected</a> – including four Champions League crowns and eight Ballons d’Or.</p><div class="affiliate-button-container theme-1" data-name="Apple TV"><div class="affiliate-button"><img class="logo" height="40" width="72" src="https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/bltcc7a7ffd2fbf71f5/blt2de198b67da95a2e/65709d2436cf7d0407034ef9/Apple_TV.png" style="width: 72px; height: 40px;"><span class="affiliate-text">Get the MLS Season Pass today!</span></div><a href="https://tv.apple.com/channel/tvs.sbd.7000?itsct=goal_mls&amp;itscg=30200&amp;at=1010l39UY" class="affiliate-button-link" target="_blank">Stream games now</a></div>

WHAT HAPPENED?

<p>The <a href="https://www.goal.com/en/news/messi-head-works-faster-any-human-being-de-paul-argentina-world-cup-2022/blt4ebe686f906fcfe6" target="_blank">speed at which Messi’s brain works</a> is considered to make him special in both sporting and intellectual terms, with the 36-year-old able to weigh up situations in an instant before deciding what the best approach is to take.</p>

THE BIGGER PICTURE

<p>Jana Martinez-Piqueras, who is a specialist on gifted capabilities and the president of Indifferent Minds, has told <a href="https://www.marca.com/futbol/2024/03/14/65f1acb046163f177b8b4592.html " target="_blank"><em>Marca</em></a> of a unique South American character: “Yes, it is believed that Messi can be [considered] a person with a high intellectual capacity. Historically these people have always been associated with a number, a test result, a high IQ. But this is a completely obsolete paradigm. At the level of science, it is no longer sustainable. It's clear that he has multiple cognitive abilities combined. And then there is the most important thing: Messi, like people with highly gifted capacities, changes the environment in which he intervenes. If anyone thinks that everything Messi did on the pitch is because he rotates his ankle very well, they are wrong. There are a lot of athletes with high ability that go undetected, excellent athletes who have not been taught the cognitive part. And what you don't work on, becomes extinct.”</p>

WHAT EXPERT SAID ABOUT MESSI

<p>Messi has honed his skill set over many years, allowing him to reach the very top of the game. There is no sign of him slowing down in the United States and he may yet <a href="https://www.goal.com/story/messi-ronaldo-the-future/index.html " target="_blank">emulate evergreen rival Cristiano Ronaldo by playing on towards his 40s</a>.</p>

WHAT NEXT FOR MESSI?

Lionel Messi not just better than most, he is smarter too! Inter Miami superstar has ‘gifted intellectual capabilities’ that allow him to make opponents look foolish | Goal.com UK

Lionel Messi has “gifted intellectual capabilities” that allow him to be both better and smarter than his rivals, claims an expert on the matter.

Editors' Picks