Moscow: Argentine superstar Lionel Messi said Saturday he regretted the penalty miss in the second half against Iceland and took full responsibility for his mistake. On the other hand, Iceland shot-stopper Hannes Halldorsson said that he had prepared for such a situation by watching many of Messi’s spot-kicks on video. It was his save that helped Iceland achieve their first point in the World Cup.
Messi’s miss has put Argentina in a spot of bother in Group D, which also has Croatia and Nigeria. Argentina now, to ensure smooth qualification to the next round must win their next two games.
“It hurts to have missed the penalty, because it would’ve been the decisive advantage,” the Barcelona talisman said after the game and added the draw had not dampened the team’s hopes in Russia.
“We haven’t lost hope despite the draw. We still have the same desire. I think we deserved to win. We tried to find spaces in the Iceland defence, but we couldn’t find them,” Messi told journalists.
Argentina next play Croatia, Thursday and Messi was quick to point out that the draw won’t affect their morale.
“We have some days to rest and get well-prepared for the match,” Messi pointed out. “We weren’t thinking about starting with one point from the first match, but that’s the way it went. We had come into the game hoping for three points… we did not get it because of my mistake. But it’s no use pondering over the past, we have to motivate ourselves for the remainder of the two games,” added the Argentine superstar.
Even though he admitted that qualification chances had become difficult, Messi was not ready to give up hope. “All is not lost. We have the potential to win the next two games and that is what we will strive for,” asserted Messi.
Yes, our job of qualifying definitely turns difficult, but not impossible. We have the potential to beat the other two teams in the group and qualify. That is what we are striving for
Lionel Messi
Meanwhile Halldorsson said, he had tried to get inside Messi’s head and correctly guessed that the player would aim his shot just inside the left upright and if he dived to his right he could make the save.
“While saving penalties, you have to take a guess… if it comes off you are the hero and I had guessed correctly,” Halldorsson told reporters. “It was a dream come true for me, to stand up to the ‘best player in the world’ and then to save his shot from the spot,” added Halldorsson.
If he was somewhere watching the game Cristiano Ronaldo would probably be grinning or winking. The man with whom Messi has played out a thrilling duel in the last decade to be considered the best player in the world has already made a headstart over the Argentine.
Everything Ronaldo did Friday night, Messi failed to emulate Saturday. Ronaldo buried a penalty past David de Gea, Messi saw his saved. When Ronaldo won a late free-kick, he launched a stunning, dipping, shot high into the net for a last gasp equaliser against Spain. When Messi tried the same trick in the dying seconds, his curling effort hit the top of the wall. Ronaldo won a point for his team. Messi blew his side’s shot at victory.
It was also a classic fairytale, but one that had a victim. And the victim was the man who had scored 64 times in the 124 games for his country. The victim was Messi. In the 2016 Copa America final Messi had missed a penalty and Chile won the title. One can only hope for the great man’s sake that something on the same lines doesn’t happen.
Football can turn cruel at times