ARGENTINA 1

AFTER his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo’s heroics on Friday night, the pressure was on Lionel Messi to deliver.

But the Argentina superstar, in what is likely to be his last World Cup, ultimately fell flat.

Ronaldo had laid down the gauntlet to Messi with his stunning hat-trick in Portugal’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Spain.

But Barcelona star and five-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi was unable match him, missing a penalty and failing to find a way past Iceland’s heroic battlers.

But Argentina manager Jorge Sampaoli refused to condemn his fallen star.

Sampaoli said: “To evaluate and characterise Lionel Messi’s work is difficult, because this was an uncomfortable match for him.

“Iceland played very defensively, blocking all spaces but we did everything we could to win.

“Leo is very committed to Argentina.”

Iceland, who humiliated England by knocking them out of Euro 2016, were at their collective and belligerent best again here, putting their bodies on the line as Argentina threw everything at them, only to come up short.

Messi – his penalty miss aside – did not play particularly badly, but met an immovable object in the stubborn shape of Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side, who proved here that their Euro 2016 exploits were no fluke.

Cracking the code of Messi’s penalty habits was the most obvious evidence that Iceland had done their homework, but Hallgrimsson said: “There was nothing in Argentina’s game that surprised us.

“We are bluntly honest about our ability, We know how we can win football matches. Argentina have superior individuals. We play in a special way and have a clear identity.”

After an anxious opening for two-time winners Argentina, Sampaoli’s side settled down and began to play with fluency and purpose, with Iceland made to chase the ball.

Messi probed again and again in a bid to find a way through the Icelandic block in front of him, but it was Sergio Aguero who made the breakthrough on 19 minutes with his first World Cup goal.

There seemed little danger when Aguero picked the ball up with his back to goal, but the

YOU BLEW IT Lionel Messi’s penalty miss was his low point in a game where he barely got a sniff of the goal