Leo regrets missing penalty

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi said he regretted having squandered a second-half penalty try that could have led his team to victory over Iceland in Group ‘D’ action on Saturday at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

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.

“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.

Meanwhile, Iceland’s goalkeeper has said he had studied many of the Argentine superstar Lionel Messi’s shots from the 12-yard mark, after stopping the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s secondhalf penalty attempt.

“It hurts to have missed the penalty, because it would’ve been the decisive advantage”

Hannes Halldorsson’s save prevented a second Argentine goal and was the key play in Saturday’s World Cup Group D match, which ended in a 1-1 draw. He said he had tried to get inside Messi’s head and correctly guessed that the FC Barcelona forward would aim his shot just inside the left upright, making the save by diving to his right.

The Icelander said it was a dream come true to face the “best player in the world”, adding his side had earned an important point in its first-ever World Cup match.