Watching Inter Miami from the sidelines, the father of a small boy hit by a stray free-kick via Lionel Messi’s boot seemed to see the silver lining in the incident.

A trip to Chase Stadium with the family took an unexpected turn when the Herons’ talisman against Orlando City was uncharacteristically wayward with a set-piece. The forward missed the mark on his attempt to lead his team to a 5-0 victory in the third match of the Major League Soccer season, unintentionally putting a young girl in danger.

The 36-year-old whacked the unaware child in the face with a lofted shot that soared past the crossbar and cannoned off the advertising hoarding. It was not surprising that the youngster broke down in tears following the event, and her relatives gathered around her to console her.

Despite the child’s daughter’s unhappy response, it appears that the father was less upset by the incident and was evidently still a little in awe of Messi. “Are you okay, my love?” he blurted. Messi still whacked you, huh? There is nothing incorrect.

Apart from this infrequent error, the Argentine sensation scored two goals in Miami’s victory over Orlando to show off his magical ability once again. In the 57th minute, he scored his first goal of the match, giving Vice City their fourth goal of the evening.

After the ball ricocheted off the bar, he bundled it over the line into an empty net, making this one of the easiest goals of his career. After a well-weighted ball from Luis Suarez, he snuck in for a powerful header at the back post to score his second of the game.

With three games played, Vice City leads the Eastern Conference rankings, and Messi has now scored three goals this season. The Herons’ captain had nothing but good things to say about a pivotal victory at home as they are still undefeated this early in the season.

After defeating their regional competitors, Messi made an appearance on Apple TV, saying, “We are good, we are enjoying, we are growing.” We needed to win today’s game in order to keep moving forward on our growth path, and in all honesty, this will only strengthen us for everything that lies ahead.”

The World Cup winner expressed his happiness at seeing his former striking partner Suarez score in Miami colors, saying, “I’m really happy for him.” Nevertheless, we had no concerns at all. It’s widely known that Luis is capable of doing certain things. That is how it is.

“He scores goals and provides assists to win the game for you when you least expect it. We’re prospering, having fun, and developing. It was crucial to win today in order to continue moving forward and growing. To be honest, it strengthens us for everything that is ahead.”