Three killed in separate wall collapse incidents in Odisha amid heavy rainfallOdisha recorded 1,154.3 mm of rainfall between June 1 and August 31 against its normal seasonal rainfall of 1,150.2 mm Updated on: Sep 2, 2026, 07:49:44 IST By Debabrata Mohanty Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link
Vaishnavi Patil, 26, was supposed to share the stage with Rahul Gandhi at a Congress party event for women in Pune last month. She could not address the crowd because of time constraints but was far from disappointed. “This was the first event where a political party head was talking about
Fact check: Is Dollywood closing permanently after a fire? Could Disney buy the park for $200 billion?Rumors that Dollywood burned down and is permanently closing are false. The park remains open. While, Disney takeover claims are also untrue. Published on: Sep 2, 2026
Erin Piacenti’s killer posted about ‘stabbing others for no reason’ months before attackMonths before killing Bank of America VP Erin Piacenti, Pamela Cisneros shared a series of posts where she rambled about religion, the meaning of life and more Updated on: Sep 2, 2026
Ariana Grande made an emotional exit on Tuesday night, as she wrapped up her Eternal Sunshine tour, and prepared to step back from public life. The singer was occasionally close to tears - most notably during One Last Time, the song that took on extra meaning as an anthem for survivors of the 2017
Short, slow and now old, how does Lionel Messi still dominate football
Lionel Messi is 39 years old. He is 1.70 metres tall – shorter than almost every defender he plays against. He was never astoundingly quick, and he is slower now.
And yet, watching this World Cup, you would be hard pressed to name a player doing more damage: he has scored the equal most goals so far (six), alongside France’s Kylian Mbappé.
How can someone with so little of what we might call athleticism (relative to his peers, at least) still be the best player on the pitch?
Maybe the puzzle is the wrong way round. Many are surprised by Messi only because we have been told a story about what makes an athlete great, and the story is mostly about the body: speed, height, strength, fitness.
Measured against that story, Messi looks like an exception.
But what if the story itself is the problem? What if soccer was never a contest of physical attributes?
Johan Cruyff, the great Dutch player, manager, commentator and soccer philosopher, saw this clearly half a century ago. He said: “What is speed? The sports press often confuses speed with insight. If I start running slightly earlier than someone else, I seem faster.”
It is a remark that sounds like a riddle, but a fast player is often not the one with quicker legs. They are often the ones who set off sooner and arrive first. What looks like speed is very often a head start bought by perception.
Cruyff understood this. What we have been able to do more recently is measure it.
Consider what happens in the seconds before Messi receives a pass. Watch him for 30 seconds when the ball is nowhere near him: his head rarely stays still. One glance over the left shoulder, another to the right, then back to the player on the ball.
None of it looks remarkable until you realise he has already gathered information others are yet to find, or at least are less adept at finding.
By the time the ball reaches him, he already knows where the defenders and teammates are, and where the gaps will open. The control, the turn, the pass that splits the defence: all of that is the easy part. The hard part happens before he had even touched the ball.
This is something we can measure.
For more than a decade, we have been studying how soccer players gather information before receiving the ball. Working with athletes from youth academies up to senior professionals, we fitted small motion sensors to the backs of their heads, and recorded how often and how widely they turned to look around during a match.
We were measuring what we call visual exploration – or, more plainly, scanning.
We were asking a simple question: how much do players look around before the ball reaches them, and does it matter?
The finding was consistent and clear. Players who scanned more frequently in the seconds before receiving the ball were faster to release their next pass, more likely to turn with the ball rather than play it safely backwards, and more likely to play a forward pass that actually threatened the opposition.
The information they gathered before the ball arrived shaped what they were able to do once it did. Scanning is how a player gets that information in the first place.
Our work separates two purposes of scanning. The first is orientation: looking around to discover what the whole field is offering, which options exist, where the danger is and what might become available.
The second is specification: the finer, later looking that guides the execution of a pass.
Orientation comes first and it is the one we tend to neglect, in research and in coaching alike, because it happens away from the ball, when nothing dramatic appears to be going on. Yet it is the foundation. You cannot aim a pass you never saw was there. Cruyff put it like this: “There is only one moment in which you can arrive in time. If you are not there, you are either too early or too late.”
This is where Messi stops being an anomaly and becomes the clearest example imaginable of what the sport rewards. He has never beaten opponents primarily with his body. He beats them with time, and he wins it by seeing sooner.
If he is slower, it does not matter, because he is not racing anyone – he has arranged, through earlier and better perception, never to need to. The shorter, slower, ageing body is not a handicap he overcomes through genius. It is a sign that the body was never the main event.
Of course, scanning is not the whole story. Technique, experience and team tactics all matter. But without timely information, those qualities rarely have the chance to express themselves.
There is a lesson in this: perception is something we can develop, deliberately, in players who will never be the quickest or the tallest.
Coaches already sense this when they shout “check your shoulder” at a player about to turn into trouble or lose track of an opposing player.
Our data suggest the habit of scanning the field before the ball arrives can be trained from a young age.
We have spent a century building athletes in the gym, but far less time building the thing Messi does in abundance.
So the next time someone wonders how a 39-year-old, standing just 1.70m tall, is still dominating a World Cup, watch their head, not their feet.
Greatness was never hiding in the body. It was always in the looking.
Gert-Jan Pepping is Professor of Human Movement Sciences, Australian Catholic University.
This article was first published on The Conversation.
Source: Scroll
Related Posts: Kajol opens up on breaking her no-kissing policy on screen after almost 30 years How Lionel Scaloni can make life easier for Lionel Messi against England Health ministry proposes shorter licensing timeline for medical devices Novak Djokovic Urges Shorter Matches To Attract Younger Tennis Fans Lionel Messi Announces International Retirement After 20 Years With Argentina Chennai flights diverted as visibility drops to 150 metres Supreme Court bans construction within 100 metres of Jojari River in Rajasthan Deadly Philippine quake raised seabed by up to two metres Lionel Messi sparkles in Inter Miami's first-ever MLS Cup trophy Every Record Lionel Messi Broke In Argentina's Dramatic R032 Win Over Cape Verde
About a century ago, long before environmental degradation became the crisis of our times, Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore had sounded early warning bells about the destruction of forests. Though Tagore was born in the city of Kolkata, he had a deep and abiding contact with nature from childhood
1 days ago
Editorial independence is core to our work. Some links may earn us a commission, without influencing our opinions.The joy of drawing anywhere starts with the right tablet, and these six options make a strong case for leaving the deskLarge canvases
1 days ago
Cops quiz witnesses to form ‘watertight’ case over Greater Noida-Delhi bus gangrapeA police officer associated with the probe said that they have written to the Forensic Science Laboratory to expedite the report. Updated on: Sep 2, 2026, 07:21:59 IST By Hemani Bhandari Prefer HTon Google Share
1 days ago
The Supreme Court quashed several first information reports against protesters. It invoked constitutional powers to ensure complete justice for young participants. The court also directed that similar cases in other states shall not be pursued
1 days ago
Orry reveals he went to Khatron Ke Khiladi 15 without informing his parents: ‘Not fragile Barbie doll people paint me’Orry has impressed one and all with his performance in multiple stunts on Khatron Ke Khiladi 15. Updated on: Sep 2, 2026, 06:15:26 IST By Santanu Das Prefer HTon Google Share
1 days ago
Manchester City have completed the signing of Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea for a joint-British transfer record £125m. The Fernandez deal takes City's spending to a Premier League record £458m for a single transfer window, surpassing Liverpool's £415m from last summer
1 days ago
Gurgaon woman busts myth of ‘lavish corporate life’, says salary disappears after paydayA Gurgaon woman shared how bills and daily expenses left her with little of her salary soon after payday. Published on: Sep 1, 2026, 14:24:23 IST By Mahipal Singh Chouhan Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy
2 days ago
A 25 groove philosophy: John Ternus built his way to Apple’s top jobThe parts nobody sees are exactly the ones worth getting right. That has always been Apple’s approach. That is also the John Ternus way Published on: Sep 1, 2026, 12:11:04 IST By Vishal Mathur Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy
2 days ago
US army secretary Dan Driscoll resigns after reported tensions with Pete HegsethDan Driscoll's departure is the latest high-profile exit at the US defense department under defense secretary Pete Hegseth. Updated on: Sep 1, 2026, 14:18:54 IST Bloomberg Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link US Army
2 days ago
Who is Hannah Israel? Heartbroken owner speaks out after beloved donkey HeeHaw is killed by cop: ‘He was my son!’Hannah Israel, the owner of a donkey, HeeHaw, was left heartbroken after a Cedartown police officer allegedly shot the animal dead in Polk County. Published on: Sep 1, 2026
2 days ago
India is preparing a framework that would let AI agents make small digital payments without approval for every transaction, three sources familiar with the matter said, potentially making UPI one of the world's largest networks with agentic payments
2 days ago
The Delhi High Court sought a response from the Wrestling Federation of India. Olympian Vinesh Phogat challenged two show-cause notices issued against her. She alleges arbitrary and discriminatory disciplinary actions by the federation. Phogat also seeks a fair framework for women athletes
2 days ago
Mirzapur: The Movie, starring Ali Fazal and Pankaj Tripathi, is all set to hit theatres on September 4, and fans of the popular web series are eagerly waiting to see the Mirzapur universe expand to the big screen. The film has been passed with an ‘A’ certificate by the CBFC and has a runtime of
2 days ago
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday once again appealed to Indians not to travel abroad and refrain from buying gold. “Avoid organising destination weddings in foreign countries,” said Modi in a video posted from Kyrgyzstan. The prime minister is in the country for the Shanghai Cooperation
2 days ago
A dark wall appears from behind the buildings at Gyirong, on the Chinese side of the Nepal-Tibet border. At first, it looks almost like a black cloud. Then it gathers shape and speed: water, mud, boulders, ice and rock surging down the valley
2 days ago
Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the BJP’s 10-day ‘Ballari Chalo’ padayatra gives Congress an opportunity to counter the opposition and that his party will plan a response. He also discussed drought assessment across Karnataka and criticised the FIR against Rahul Gandhi as
2 days ago
A content creator from China attempted to experience life as a woman in Delhi, but it took an unsettling turn after he started getting unwanted attention from men. Dressed in women’s clothing and walking through the city, the blogger claimed that several men approached him
2 days ago
Founder who survived on bread, water at 18 thinks everyone should go ‘completely broke’ onceA Mumbai-based founder claimed that surviving on bread and water at 18 removed his fear of startup failure and financial losses. Updated on: Sep 1, 2026
2 days ago
What the robots are telling usWhile setting their own athletic records at the robot Olympics, humanoid robots underline a visible shift from an engineering spectacle to being a commercial and trade leverage Published on: Sep 1, 2026, 11:48:03 IST By Vishal Mathur Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy
2 days ago
Sleeping until 9 am is often linked with laziness or a lack of discipline in Indian homes. But Gurgaon-based entrepreneur Jasveer Singh believes the idea needs to be questioned. The co-founder and CEO of Knot Dating said waking up early should not be treated as an achievement
2 days ago
Did you know the term 'Artificial Intelligence' was coined 71 years ago?The term “Artificial Intelligence” was coined by computer scientist in 1955, when he used it in a proposal for a summer research project at Dartmouth College. Updated on: Sep 1, 2026
2 days ago
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 22 states sued Amazon on Monday for allegedly "manipulating" online auctions for digital advertising, resulting in more than $20 billion in overcharges for 1.2 million customers. Amazon "has secretly and systematically overcharged its approximately 1
2 days ago
The death toll in Nepal from devastating floods on the border with Tibet has crossed 1,000, according to the country's disaster agency. More than 3,900 people remain missing - of whom more than 600 are workers believed to be trapped in a vast network of mud-filled tunnels at hydropower sites along
2 days ago
‘Prove my role, I’ll retire’: Karanataka minister Priyank Kharge challenges HD Kumaraswamy over KPSC rowKarnataka minister Priyank Kharge claimed Kumaraswamy was asked by the RSS or Amit Shah to target him. Updated on: Sep 1, 2026, 14:28:17 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link
2 days ago
Always looking for a sweet treat after dinner? Fitness coach Eric Roberts shares 3 reasons for late-night sugar cravings Published on: Sep 1, 2026, 14:09:20 IST By Eshana Saha Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Read more to find out why your sugar cravings intensify at the end of the day!
2 days ago
3-year-old kidnapped from Delhi found 1,000 km away in Bihar; accused woman had 6 daughters, wanted a sonThe child went missing while he was playing near his mother, who had gone to the hospital to collect medicines, police said. Updated on: Sep 1, 2026
2 days ago
63-year-old grandmother shares 1 exercise senior citizens must do to stay independent as they age: 'Knee pain is tricky' Published on: Sep 1, 2026, 14:05:05 IST By Sanya Panwar Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Think you should skip squats due to knee pain? This 63-year-old fitness coach says
2 days ago
![Washington DC [US], August 23 (ANI): Dr Dre, the legendary hip-hop producer and performer, sees AI as another tool in the music-tech toolbox akin to](http://newsorbit360.com/files/news/en/imgs/its-a-new-tool-for-creativity.jpg?width=120&height=70)
