MESSI: Iceland are nothing but long throws & long balls

LIONEL MESSI has taken a leaf out of Cristiano Ronaldo’s book by criticising Iceland’s in-your-face football.

Argentinian ace Messi missed a penalty as the Scandinavian underdogs snatched a 1-1 draw against one of the tournament favourites on Saturday.

Two years ago Ronaldo blasted the Icelanders for having a “small mentality” when they grabbed a draw against Portugal at Euro 2016. And Messi struck a similar chord when he claimed: “Iceland did nothing.

“All they did was defend, and attack with nothing but long throw-ins. I think we deserved to win the game, but there are some positives that we can take beyond the result. We leave with a feeling of bitterness and anger.

“I feel responsible for not being able to take the three points. With the penalty we could have done.

“We really felt we were in a complicated group and we knew it would be a difficult game.

“Physically Iceland are very strong, but now we must only think about what is ahead. We must rest, prepare well, and not waste any more time thinking about this game.”

Argentina legend Diego Maradona urged fans to chant for Messi from his seat in the stand after the Barcelona forward had his second-half spot-kick saved by Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson.

And afterwards Maradona took to his Instagram account to post a reminder that his Argentina side went on to reach the final in 1990 despite falling to a shock defeat by Cameroon in their opening game.

Maradona wrote: “I started a World Cup losing, not drawing, in the opening game of Italia ‘90.

“And, despite the injuries, despite everything, we reached the final.”

The South Americans had 27 efforts on goal and 78 percent possession but their progress towards the last 16 was made much more difficult when Croatia took a grip on the group by beating Nigeria 2-0.

Messi added: “We are disappointed not to start with three points but we must now think about the games that are coming. Croatia are a great team and Nigeria are also good.”

Team-mate Sergio Aguero, who opened the scoring against Iceland, said: “Leo showed he’s human. He just had a bad day, but we know that he can give us the victory at any moment of the game. I hope he can be better for the next match against Croatia.”