Messi admits fault as Argentina is held to a draw
The Argentina captain admitted that his missed penalty meant his team could only draw 1-1 with Iceland in their opening match of the 2018 World Cup.
"I am the one to blame for Argentina not being able to get all three points. The team will be stronger after this match. We will go out and beat Croatia in the next match," Messi shared after the match with Iceland.
In the 64th minute, Argentina was awarded a penalty kick when the score was 1-1. Messi took the responsibility for the penalty kick. His shot was not dangerous, and was accurately blocked by goalkeeper Holldorsson. After the match, the Iceland goalkeeper revealed that he had watched many videos of Messi's penalty kicks, so he was able to predict the Argentina captain's moves.
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Messi is increasingly unlucky with penalties. In his last 10 attempts for Barca and Argentina, he has missed five. |
Messi had a disappointing match against Iceland, his opponent in the World Cup for the first time. Besides missing the penalty, the captain of Argentina was also stuck when the opponent always arranged two people to fight for the ball when he had the ball.
Lacking space to operate, Messi even had to retreat deep into his own half to organize attacks. However, all his efforts could not create the necessary breakthrough for Argentina, and the team had to accept a 1-1 draw with Iceland.
However, Messi believes that what he and his teammates should do now is to look forward. "There's no need for us to go crazy after the opening match, even though the whole team really wanted to win all three points. Everything happened outside of the plan, but Argentina's goal is still the same. That is to win the next match. Of course, no one gives you victory for free. Everything will be very difficult," said the captain striker.
"Now we need to calm down and start preparing for the match against Croatia, which promises to be a difficult match. Life must go on, we need to stay calm to see what awaits us."
