‘Angry’ Lionel Messi fumes as he misses penalty against Poland to become just the second-ever player to spurn two World Cup penalties since 1966… and warns Argentina must not underestimate ‘very difficult’ last-16 tie against Australia
- Lionel Messi was seething with anger after missing a penalty against Poland
- The star goalscorer missed a first-half penalty as Argentina ran out 2-0 victors
- Messi however starred in other areas as Argentina finished group victors
- They will now play Australia in a favourable knockout stage tie on Saturday
- Messi warned his teammates not to be complacent against ‘difficult’ opponents
- Click here for the latest World Cup 2022 news, fixtures, live action and results
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Lionel Messi is fuming at himself for missing a penalty during Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Poland after he missed the opportunity to score a ninth World Cup goal on Wednesday.
Messi saw his dead-ball strike saved by the strong hand of Poland shot-stopper Wojciech Szczesny, with many feeling that was justice served after the controversial penalty decision.
Szcezny grazed Messi’s face with his glove as he leaped to intercept a cross that the striker headed off-target, with social media left stunned by the decision of the referee.
Lionel Messi has admitted he is ‘angry’ at himself for missing a penalty against Poland
Messi’s first-half spot-kick strike was well-saved by Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny
His miss, Sczezny’s second penalty save of the tournament, saw Messi join the record books alongside Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan as he become just the second-ever player to miss two standard-time penalties at the World Cup since 1966.
Messi said as per Argentina’s official Twitter account: ‘I’m angry for having missed the penalty, but the team came out stronger after that mistake of mine. We knew that once the first goal went in, it would change the game.
‘The previous game (a 2-0 win over Mexico) gave us a lot of peace of mind and we went out onto the pitch thinking we had to win.’
Szczesny (yellow) grazed Messi’s face as VAR decided to award the penalty decision
Messi was clearly disappointed after missing the chance to score a ninth World Cup goal
Wednesday’s victory in Qatar see’s pre-tournament favourites Argentina set-up a knockout stage clash with minnows Australia.
Australia will play Argentina in the round of 16 clash on Saturday
The Socceroos stunned Denmark in a must-win match on Wednesday as Mathew Leckie rounded off a brilliant counter-attack to claim a famous World Cup victory in the heat of the Middle East.
However, despite 35 places separating the two teams in FIFA’s official men’s rankings, the 35-year-old star has played down talk of an easy game.
The six-time Ballon d’Or title holder admitted ‘anyone can beat anyone’ in the World Cup tournament layout and called on his teammates to ‘prepare’ properly against Saturday’s opponents.
‘The match against Australia is going to be very difficult. ‘Anyone can beat anyone, everything is very even.
‘We have to prepare the game in the best way as we always do. We must be calm and go game by game.
Messi has warned his Argentina teammates not to take Australia lightly on Saturday
Mathew Leckie (left) scored Australia’s only goal as they stunned Denmark to win 1-0
‘Now another World Cup begins and hopefully we can continue to maintain what we did today.’
Messi is hoping to put previous miseries behind him as he attempts to replicate the success of Argentina icon Diego Maradona by taking the country to their first World Cup title since 1986.
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