Lionel Messi is heading towards arguably the two most important years of his career.
From a club perspective, the serial Ballon d'Or winner could be just a few months away from calling time on his legendary Barcelona spell and perhaps securing a lucrative Premier League move.
But even more importantly than that, Messi is fast-approaching two international tournaments that could shape his legacy forever and maybe even settle the neverending Cristiano Ronaldo debate.
Big two years for Messi
Messi has had something of a tough time when it comes to the big occasions with Argentina, suffering a heartbreaking string of three defeats in finals between 2014 and 2016.
Losing the 2014 World Cup final to Germany and back-to-back Copa America climaxes against Chile means that the Barcelona superstar is yet to collect a major honour in Argentina colours.
As a result, you can probably put two and two together to see why the 2021 Copa America and 2022 World Cup could have a huge bearing on how Messi is remembered for years to come.
Messi on Argentina duties
Besides, while Messi has already proven himself to be an expert at holding back father time, even the magic man himself will be thinking about retirement when he travels to Qatar at age 35.
And although you would have fancied Messi's chances of securing that evasive international title during his prime, don't think for one second that he's running out of steam for Argentina just yet.
Yes, I know, you've probably seen the memes and statistics on social media slamming how much he has 'relied' on penalties recently, but we all know that Messi is so much more than goals.
After all, Messi was up to some of his usual tricks during the 1-1 draw with Paraguay on Thursday, producing a first touch so incredible that the photograph of it will surely become iconic.
Messi's karate touch vs Paraguay
Messi can be keen killing the ball dead in a pose similar to that of Dennis Bergkamp's' statue at the Emirates Stadium and the footage of his incredible acrobatics is arguably just as impressive.
In fact, the clip has even been given the slow-motion treatment to show exactly how Messi defies gravity with a superhuman leap, only to control the ball effortlessly with his foot so high in the air.
Check it out down below to see exactly why the photograph deserves to be shared, adored and placed in museums once Messi hangs up his boots:
Incredible airtime
Now, it's impossible to calculate exactly how high Messi lifted his boot for the touch, but Twitter user @FutbolFax has done some brilliant detective work that brings us as close as possible.
By comparing the height of Messi's boot to the head of Tottenham's Giovani Lo Celso, who is stood in line with him on the edge of the penalty area, we can assume he rose to approximately six feet.
And although that doesn't quite match a certain somebody who is often compared to Messi - who could we possibly be on about? - it's an impressive feat of agility and flexibility nontheless.
It also goes to show that even when Messi has a quiet game by his standards, such is his quality that you can guarantee he'll still produce at least one moment of magic within the 90 minutes.