Lionel’s mess-up
Argentina star’s spot of bother
ICELAND hero Hannes Halldorsson revealed he thwarted Argentina star Lionel Messi from the spot by studying his penalty technique.
Haldorsson’s second-half penalty save earned Iceland an unlikely point in their World Cup opener, and brought fresh frustration for Barcelona superstar Messi at a major tournament.
Messi (left) did all he could do to atone for his spot-kick miss, but Iceland – conquerors of England at Euro 2016 – stood firm to earn a deserved draw in their Group D opener.
And Halldorsson (below), who used to work as a film director making zombie films, benefited from hours watching clips of the Barcelona star’s penalties.
He said: “I did my homework. It was a situation I knew could come up. I looked at a lot of Messi penalties.
“I wanted to get into his mind and what he’d think about me. I had a good feeling he’d go that way.”
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
Manchester City striker performed a lightning-quick turn, leaving Ragnar Sigurdsson trailing in his wake, and unleashed an unstoppable strike that flashed past Iceland keeper Hannes Halldorsson.
It was a deserved lead for one of the tournament favourites, but one that lasted just four minutes, Argentina’s uncertainty at the back undermining Aguero’s brilliance and gifting their opponents an equaliser.
Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson drilled a ball into the six-yard box, which Willy Caballero was only able to palm into the path of the grateful Alfred Finnbogason, who reacted quickest to steer it into the net to level. With keeper Caballero anxious throughout, Argentina always looked vulnerable at the back.
Gylfi Sigurdsson twice went close before the break, and Iceland were unlucky to go in 1-1.
Argentina dominated after the break and should have gone ahead in the 64th minute when they won a penalty after Maxi Meza went down in the box following a shove from behind. Messi stepped up to take the spot-kick – but saw his poor effort saved by Halldorsson, who had prepared for the match by watching videos of the great man’s penalties for Barcelona. Messi then failed with a dipping free-kick and he struggled to make his influence count. Argentina were getting desperate as the clock ticked down. Sampaoli (left) brought on substitute Cristian Pavon who went down in the box after a challenge but Polish referee Szymon Marciniak waved the appeals away.
Messi, again, went close with a curling effort that flew inches wide with nine minutes left, the miss summing up his afternoon.
Iceland were indebted to Halldorsson late on, when he dived full stretch to keep out a shot from Pavon while Messi shot wide in added time.
A nation of 335,000 souls, having stunned England two years ago and swept aside Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey on the road to Russia, have now stopped arguably the greatest player of all time.
Leo is committed but this was an uncomfortable match for him