As Lionel Messi soared to the top of global soccer, and established himself as the greatest player the sport has ever seen, a noisy minority of skeptics, most of them British, would pose a silly question: Sure, Messi could dazzle on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Spain, but can he do it on a cold, rainy night at Stoke?
Over the years, it morphed into a meme. When Messi moved to Miami, it morphed into American variations. And this week, as snow and sub-zero temperatures approached Kansas City, it took on new life: Could Messi do it on a freezing cold night in Kansas?
The definitive answer came Wednesday night: Yes.
With his body sheathed in black, and hand-warmers in his gloves, and a minus-8-degree wind chill biting at his cheeks, Messi scored the only goal of a CONCACAF…
