Lionel Messi, by most estimates the greatest soccer player ever, celebrated his 39th birthday a little early this week at a World Cup that already has his name all over it. He did so in typical Messi fashion: with a series of improbable, elegant goals and a new record. Messi has now been at the top of the world’s most popular sport for nearly 22 years. He’s won a World Cup, four Champions Leagues, 13 league titles, eight Ballon d’Ors — more than anyone ever — and now the most World Cup goals of all time (18), among dozens of other honors. So far at this World Cup, he’s scored a ridiculous five goals in two games. That’s already a lot of Messi, no matter how you look at it.

And yet we — you, me, most living soccer fans, or just casual observers — want more from him. We expect more from him. Hype aside (of which there is plenty), there is never enough Messi for us. Eventually we tire of indulging in the best of anything, whether it’s Tom Brady or prestige television; overexposure accumulates and haters proliferate. Yet apart from a small legion of unserious internet trolls, Messi is largely haterproof, even to fans of teams he has obliterated over the years. What is it about him? What makes this five-foot-seven, unassuming guy with limitless talent so unique? It’s actually hard to say.

There is his inimitable style of play, of course. This was exemplified by his most recent goals, both against Austria on Monday. Messi is a guy who can write his own scripts, and fittingly, each goal exemplified the two phases of his career. The first was a typical late-career lurker, starting with an outlet pass from him in midfield. Play moved to the wing, while Messi strolled quietly behind in the center. It was a trap; the ball was crossed into the middle, his teammate in front let it pass, and from 17 yards or so, Messi came sneaking in late — unnoticed, somehow — to calmly blast it with precision low into the corner of the goal.

For his second, he turned back the clock to the 2000s, when he earned the nickname “La Pulga Atomica” (“The Atomic Flea”) from Spanish media. Though Messi doesn’t run a lot anymore, in the game’s 94th minute, he galloped along the sideline with the ball, sensing opportunity. He found his teammate Julián Alvarez running toward goal with a slide-rule pass. Alvarez’s shot was blocked, but another teammate passed the ball to Messi, who was now in the box. That pass was deflected, only for Messi to coolly adjust by sticking his leg straight behind him, somehow trapping the ball perfectly — a classic example of Messi bending the laws of physics, or at least the limits of human ability, to his will. Then muscle memory set in and he dribbled into the box, building tension as he buzzed around the goal. He shot, was blocked again, then collected the rebound and — finally — put it........

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