Moscow: Argentine superstar Lionel Messi said he regretted having squandered a second-half penalty try that could have led his team to vi...
The match at Otkritie Arena in Moscow, which featured two first-half goals, ended in a 1-1 draw.
"It hurts to have missed the penalty, because it would've been the decisive advantage," the FC Barcelona talisman said after the game, though adding the draw had not dampened the team's hopes in Russia, reported Efe.
"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," he added.
Messi denied that the draw would affect the team in its next Group D contest Thursday against Croatia, adding that "we have some days to rest and get well-prepared for the match."
"We weren't thinking about starting with one point from the first match, but it's the first match. No one gives anything away. It's a very even World Cup and you're seeing that, because all the games are very close," he added.
Lionel Messi's penalty miss. Brilliant save by Iceland goalkeeper Halldórsson. 👏🏻
— FlFA World Cup (@WorIdCupFC) June 16, 2018
[via @EricMoore__]pic.twitter.com/yMRTRFgNp6
Argentina took 27 shots towards the Iceland goal with Messi alone taking 11 of them, the Iceland defence seemed too hard to penetrate.
Argentina continued to press but Messi was subdued in the face of the tall Icelandic defence and the teams went into the break on even terms. Messi looked helpless as his team failed to dominate in spite of controlling maximum ball possession.
The Argentina football team appeared to have secured a breakthrough when Polish referee Szymon Marciniak pointed for the penalty kick after Rurik Gislason brought Maximiliano Meza down in the 63rd minute, Messi took a half-hearted shot on Hannes Halldorsson's right but he guessed the ball correctly and palmed away the Argentine skipper's side-footed effort.
Iceland launched some early physical challenges and rattled the Argentina team in front of a raucous crowd at the 45,000-capacity venue.
The debutants Iceland gave Argentina a scare early in the first half when Bjorn Sigurdarson pounced on a loose ball only to rifle a shot wide of the post.
Sergio Aguero opened the scoresheet with an eye-catching opener for the two-time world champions in the 19th minute. Marcos Rojo drilled a shot into the Iceland penalty box, Aguero took possession of the ball, turning the defender before smashing it into the top corner of the net with his left foot.
The lead was short-lived as it was almost immediately cancelled out by Iceland's Alfred Finnbogason. The Iceland striker netted the equaliser, pouncing when Argentine keeper Wilfredo Caballero parried away Gylfi Sigurdsson's shot for a classic poacher's goal.
The match was a major embarrassment for the Albiceleste as they failed to win a game against the relative underdogs. The embarrassment worsened with the penalty miss by their captain, who was nowhere close to his best in today's match.
In the 90+2 minutes, Lionel Messi again tried to score a goal but failed to do as the match ended with a scoreline of 1-1
Source: News Agency
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