Lionel Messi’s continued success as a football player calls for an explanation of his remarkable abilities. Together with the Brazilian player Pelé and the Argentinian Maradona, he is consistently ranked among the three best players in the history of the game, each with his special talent. The Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, although an excellent player, is considered by many to be below them.

How can Messi’s unique abilities be compared to those of Ronaldo? David Konzevik, a former Argentine football player and now a famous economist living in Mexico City, recently told me, “To compare Messi with Cristiano Ronaldo is like comparing the Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev with the famous American boxer Joe Louis.” Although soccer has many remarkable players, few have the consistent brilliance that Messi has shown for almost two decades.

Many claim that Messi’s remarkable ability as a player is the result of the famous Spanish coach Pep Guardiola's mentoring when he played in Barcelona. However, when he was a child in Argentina, before going to Spain, Messi was already an excellent player. Ernesto Vecchio, a coach from his youth, said, "As a player, he is very similar now to how he was as a youngster." He added, "He decides in milliseconds what he is going to do with the ball at his feet."

There is, however, another side to Messi that is as remarkable and much less well-known: his work as a humanitarian. Messi’s Foundation supports sick Argentine children (mostly from his hometown of Rosario), allowing them to get paid treatment in Spain, covering hospital, round-trip transportation from Argentina, and recovery costs. In March 2010, Messi was named Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, where he has been able to continue his work in support of vulnerable children.

When he was playing in Barcelona, Messi showed the humanitarian side of his personality. He met an 11-year-old Moroccan boy named Soufian, a fan of his, and for a few unforgettable minutes had played football with the boy. Soufian had lost both his legs to Laurence-Sandrow syndrome, an extremely rare genetic condition. Set with artificial legs, he never lost his passion for football. And he feverishly followed Messi’s performances in the Barcelona team.

Messi promised the boy that in the coming game of Barcelona against CA Osasuna, his first goal would be dedicated to him. And he kept his promise. Following his goal, Messi lifted his hands in a characteristic gesture and immediately started slapping his thighs, in a way that he had agreed beforehand with Soufian would signal that this goal was dedicated to him.

The Moroccan boy was elated. And so was the Spanish sportscaster who, aware of that promise, kept yelling after that goal, “Messi is huge, Messi is huge!” When the game was finished, Messi’s team had defeated Osasuna 8-0, with two more goals from Messi.

The Moroccan boy so admired Messi that he had his artificial legs painted with the colors of Messi’s team. He has also painted on them the number 10, Messi’s jersey, usually given to the best player on a team. In a fan-site interview, Messi stated: “Being a bit famous now gives me the opportunity to help people who really need it, particularly children.”

His exceptional qualities as a player have made Messi the object of medical studies that attempt to find clues to his unique talent. How Messi's brain works has been studied by a Dutch physician, Pieter Medendorp of Radboud University in Nijmegen. Dr. Medendorp hopes to learn "how people make split-second decisions and know how to prioritize." It is Messi's ability to confront opponents trying to block him and then almost effortlessly weave through them that particularly interested Dr. Medendorp.

But the best explanation of Messi’s abilities can be found in an article written by the Argentine journalist Hernán Casciari, published in his blog and ironically titled, “Messi is a dog.” Casciari—who doesn’t hide his admiration for Messi—tells how, after watching several of Messi’s goals on YouTube, he realized that Messi plays as if in a trance, hypnotized.

Messi’s only wish is to see the ball in the opposing team’s goal. He writes, “We must look well into his eyes to understand this: he looks cross-eyed at the ball, as if reading an out-of-focus subtitle; he focuses on it and does not lose sight of it even if they knife him,” wrote Casciari.

“Where had I seen that look before? In whom? I knew that gesture of supreme introspection. I pressed the Pause key in the video. I zoomed in on Messi’s eyes. And then I remembered it: those were the eyes of Totín when he became crazy for the sponge.”

“I had a dog in childhood called Totín. Nothing moved him. He wasn’t a smart dog. Thieves came in, and he just watched them carry the TV out. The buzzer rang, and he didn’t hear it. However, when someone [my mother, my sister, myself] grabbed a sponge—particularly a yellow sponge for washing dishes—Totín became mad. He wanted this sponge more than anything in the world; he wished with all his heart to take this yellow rectangle to the doghouse.”

“I showed it to him, holding it in my right hand, and he focused on it. I moved the sponge from one side to the other, and he never stopped looking at it. He couldn’t stop looking at it. No matter how fast I moved the sponge, Totín’s neck moved with equal speed through the air. His eyes had the searching look of Sherlock Holmes. I discovered this afternoon, watching that video, that Messi is a dog. Or a man-dog. That’s my theory. Messi is the first dog ever to play soccer,” concluded Casciari.

I also found that Casciari’s is the best explanation for Messi’s talent.