Nothing new: Messi has exceptional intelligence, per expert

Among soccer fans, Lionel Messi stands head and shoulders above the crowd. He led Argentina to a World Cup victory in 2022, further solidifying his position among the GOATs in soccer.

One reason he is so much more intelligent and talented than his competitors is due to his exceptional intellectual ability. The great Argentine, who now plays for Inter Miami, has made a living putting down his opponents.

That is due to his superior skill, which has allowed him to amass an unprecedented number of accolades; all thanks to his sharp thinking. Among them are eight Ballon d’Or awards and four UEFA Champions League victories.

Everyone sees Messi as an intellectual and athletic marvel, due to the lightning-fast processing speeds of his brain. At 36 years old, he still has the mental capacity to snap out of any jam and figure out how to get back on track.

Messi is at the top of his game because he has worked hard to perfect his abilities over many years. In America, he shows no signs of slowing down. He might follow in the footsteps of his eternal adversary Cristiano Ronaldo and continue playing well into his fifth decade.

Everything points to the Argentine’s natural talent as a ballplayer, which he displayed at Newell’s Old Boys before moving on to Barcelona‘s La Masia program at the turn of the century.

Expert claims Messi has very high Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Jana Martinez-Piqueras, an authority on the subject, thinks that the Argentine superstar has exceptional intelligence. “Yes, it is believed that Messi can be [considered] a person with a high intellectual capacity,” she told Spanish newspaper Marca.

“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.

Many in Martinez-Piqueras’ profession consider Messi to be a genius because of his meticulous play design and calculation-based decisions.

“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”.

Many smart players go unrecognized

Intelligence is a multi-faceted concept that goes beyond IQ. Obviously, some individuals are very bright, but maybe not in the way that gets you into elite colleges. Some athletes, particularly soccer players, have an exceptional feel for the ball, which allows them to manage it, pass it, create opportunities, and even sneak it away from the other team.

On this planet, you will find really amazing and gifted players. But Lionel Messi is on a whole new plane of the inconceivable. It wasn’t the case with him, but many talented athletes, Martinez-Piqueras says, go unrecognized despite their exceptional intelligence.

“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,” she said.

Photo credits: IMAGO / Agencia-MexSport : IMAGO / Xinhua.