ESPN’s Taylor Twellman: How Messi Keeps Defying the Odds (and Father Time)

Rich's favorite Lionel Messi goal from the Kansas City hat trick was the one where Messi barely moved. He just stood in the middle of the pitch, conserving energy in game one of a World Cup, waiting for the ball to find him because he's Lionel Messi. Then it did, and off came a rocket. Taylor Twellman agreed it was unreal, and that a Messi hat trick belongs in the top five moments in the history of a stadium defined by Patrick Mahomes.

Twellman would know. He was on the call when Messi blew the doors off the same building for Inter Miami, with Mahomes in the booth next to him, mesmerized. What makes it remarkable is the timing. Messi turns 39 in about five days and is doing things he's never done. He became the oldest player ever to record a World Cup hat trick, having never had one before, and is now both the youngest and oldest player to score for Argentina in a World Cup across his six tournaments.

"He's defying odds, Rich," Twellman said. Messi is playing free, even as something personal weighs on him. He was emotional after the game, and while unconfirmed, there are reports out of Argentina that his father isn't well.

Twellman framed it as a vindication. Everyone told Messi and Rodrigo De Paul that moving to MLS and Inter Miami would stall their games. Instead, De Paul played one of the best passes Twellman has ever seen and Messi scored a hat trick. They're defying everybody, Twellman included, and the idea that Messi could win the Golden Boot at 39 is almost too much.

The capper was a stat: Messi now has more wins at the Kansas City stadium, at 2-0, than Derek Carr, who went 1-9 there. As Rich noted, that's what the Raiders looked like in the Mahomes era.