Even If You Don't Like Soccer, Watch This Lionel Messi Free Kick

Soccer's on the rise here Stateside, but the United States national team still has a long way to go. The USMNT had a good run coming into this month's Copa America, and they did the business, mostly, in the early rounds. They contrived to lose to Colombia in the opener, but battled back to take their next two games and win their group on a technicality. Then they beat Ecuador in the first knockout round to set up a semifinal showdown with powerhouse Argentina.

That was always likely to be the end of the ride, though. Argentina can call on a who's who of top-level talent, chief among them the pint-sized maestro Lionel Messi. The Barcelona forward has spent the last few seasons burnishing his credentials as perhaps the greatest player to ever play the game, and he did a little of that here. Messi scored his 55th goal for Argentina to become the nation's all-time leading scorer, and he did it with one of the more spectacular free kicks in the long history of this tournament. Set up slightly left of the goal, he curled one over the wall and toward's the right corner—the keeper's side—with such venom that American keeper Brad Guzan was just helpless.

Argentina won 4-0. It was a reminder that, while the U.S. and Mexico might dominate the tiny nations (and Canada) that compete in North American tournaments, there are way bigger fish swimming around in this wide world of ours. No one in the U.S. team last night would likely make it into Argentina's. After all, they had Messi and Gonzalo Higuain up front. We had Chris Wondolowski.

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