Inter Miami may have lost 2-1 to the Columbus Crew in MLS, but Lionel Messi treated fans to yet another moment of soccer magic by scoring directly off a free kick—and from a very wide angle, no less.
The Argentine star has now scored 76 career goals on free kicks and is just two behind the all-time leader, Marcelino Carioca, who scored 78 goals on free kicks during his career from 1988 to 2009. The Brazilian attacking midfielder, however, did not play at a level comparable to that of the Argentine, having played very little in Europe with Valencia and Ajaccio and spending the rest of his career in Brazil and, briefly, in Japan and Saudi Arabia.
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Among the best-known names on the list of top scorers from free kicks, Zuninho Pernambucano scored 72 goals and ranks fifth; the late Sinisa Mihajlovic is seventh with 67; Cristiano Ronaldo is ninth with 63; Zico is tenth with 62, Diego Maradona is eleventh with 61, and goalkeeper Rosério Seni is twelfth with 59. Also in the Top 15 are Ronaldinho (13th with 57) and David Beckham (15th with 53).
*Photo source: AP
