MOSCOW: Lionel Messi, arguably the world’s greatest player, has admitted that he “felt hurt” after failing to score for Argentina from the penalty spot against minnows Iceland in their World Cup opener on Saturday.
As a result, two-time world champions Argentina, rated as a pre-tournament favourite, could only manage a 1-1 draw.
Messi’s penalty kick in the second half was saved by Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson.
Halldorsson, who used to make zombie films for a living, read Messi’s mind correctly and timed his dive perfectly to the right to stop the shot.
Halldorsson said watching videos of Messi had let him outwit the superstar and save the penalty.
The Daily Mail reported that Messi had admitted he was hurting after his missed penalty but is determined to move on as quickly as possible.
“Obviously it hurts me to have missed the penalty. We have the bitterness of not being able to take the three points that we deserved.
“To start with winning is always important, now we have to think about Croatia. We will try to pass this quickly,” Messi said.
The statistics had Messi taking 11 shots at goal against Iceland but he couldn’t find the net.
Iceland, the smallest team in the World Cup, gave Argentina the shivers with the equaliser through Alfred Finnbogason after Sergio Aguero had put the South Americans ahead.