Rio Paralympics 2016: Messi joins Spanish Paralympic blind team for kickabout

Lionel Messi and his Barcelona colleagues linked up with the Spanish national 5-a-side blind football team for a kickabout and penalty shootout contest... and unsurprisingly the Argentine maestro excelled.

The Blaugrana players involved were given blindfolds and shown the tricks of the trade by their counterparts, who taught them how to connect with the ball, which makes a noise, via a device, when struck.

When the spot-kicks came around, Barcelona and their opponents drew, with one penalty scored by each side from their three taken.

Messi quickly got to grips with wearing a blindfold, putting his penalty away for Barca, despite a valiant effort from the goalkeeper.

The get-together was organised by UNICEF, to celebrate #thisability and the power of inclusive sport for children, and this week marks the 10th Anniversary of the UNICEF-FC Barcelona Foundation partnership.

There are two groups of four teams taking part in the football 5-a-side competition (played exclusively by athletes with visual impairment) at the Rio 2016 summer Paralympics, which gets underway on Friday.

Culled from Dailymail