John Farnworth. The name might sound pedestrian, but this man’s got mad football skills, beating Lionel Messi’s first touch record.
Messi had controlled a ball which came down at him from 18 metres (kicked by himself straight up in the air) and Farnworth, who is a freestyle footballer, decided to almost double the height in the chase to better the five-time World Player of the Year.
He used the help of a crane and the ball was dropped from a height of 32 metres in wet, windy English conditions, after which he expertly brings it down.
The 30-year-old’s achievements include covering the entire 26-mile London Marathon course without letting the ball at his feet touch the ground.
To be fair to Messi, he didn’t have a crane, he had kicked the ball 18 metres into the air on his own — but come on, you can’t win a fight against Messi fairly.
“You think that the ball is dropping at a nice pace but at the last minute is speeds up and it is almost like a bullet,” Farnworth said.
Feature image source: YouTube