Lionel Messi belatedly beguiled the Copa America last night, coming on as a substitute against Panama to ultimately score an eighteen-minute hat-trick. While Messi's performance was once again dripping with the class of the man, the highlight of the game was undoubtedly Gonzalo Higuain's assist for Messi's opening goal. Think of the sport's greatest assists: Kaka for Crespo in Istanbul; Bergkamp against Juventus in 2001; Suarez against Manchester United in 2011. Higuain's is right up there:
Let's see that from multiple angles:
This was Messi's first goal, and took just seventeen further minutes to secure the match-ball and join Phil Coutinho at the top of the goalscorer's chart. The second was a free-kick:
Here's the hat-trick goal:
Barcelona might struggle to extend Messi's next contractL he has to float back to his home planet at some stage.
