Argentina 1-1 Iceland: Messi fail to emulate Ronaldo heroic as he misses penalty again



Lionel Messi failed to emluate Cristiano Ronaldo heroic as the Barcelona forward missed penalty AGAIN in Argentina's 1-1 draw with Iceland.  2018 World Cup  1-1 Sergio Agüero (19')  Alfred Finnbogason (23')  Match Events  8' Argentina nearly take lead!   CLOSE! A free-kick delivery from Messi causes problems for Iceland, with Tagliafico flicking on a header but sees his effort bounce wide of the mark.  

9' Bjarnasson's shot wide out!   WIDE! A golden opportunity for Iceland to take the lead! A defensive mishap from an Argentina goal kick concedes possession but Bjarnason can't hit the target despite having the goal at his mercy.  

19' GOAL! Argentina 1-0 Iceland (Aguero)    GOAL! 1-0 Argentina! Rojo drills a shot into the area and Aguero takes possession, turning the defender and smashing into the top corner of the net.  

20' CHANCE! Messi's shot denied!   SAVE! Argentina are in top gear and Messi looks to be in the mood, picking the ball up outside the area and curling towards goal but seeing his effort saved.  

23' GOAL! Argentina 1-1 Iceland (Finnbogason)    GOAL! Iceland equalise! What a response!   Sigurdsson drills a ball across the face of goal, which Caballero can only parry into the path of Finnbogason who taps home comfortably for his nation's first ever World Cup goal.  

44' SAVE! Caballero stops Sigurdsson's shot!   SAVE! A brilliant touch for Finnbogason presents Iceland with an opportunity, as he cuts it back to Gylfi Sigurdsson. He weaves into some room but Caballero gets down well to deny the Everton man the goal.  64' AGAIN! MESSI MISSES PENALTY!   PENALTY! Messi swings an inviting cross into the middle Meza is bundled over by Magnusson.     

OH, WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT?!! PENALTY SAVED! Messi steps up but it's a poor attempt, which Halldorsson did well to keep out. You'd bet your house on Messi scoring from the spot but it's a woeful effort!  How big a moment will that be for the World Cup? If Argentina drop points here, Messi will be criticised. On the flip side, Halldorsson may have just become a Iceland hero.  Match Report  Hannes Thor Halldorsson was the hero for Iceland as the goalkeeper's penalty save from Lionel Messi secured his side a sensational 1-1 draw against Argentina.   With Diego Maradona watching on from the stands, Messi failed to convert from the spot in the second half of an eventful Group D opener at the Otkrytie Arena in Moscow.  

Sergio Aguero had fired the beaten finalists from four years ago ahead in the 19th minute, finally breaking his World Cup duck at the ninth attempt with a rising left-footed drive.  

Yet debutants Iceland refused to melt on the main stage, Alfred Finnbogason capitalising on Willy Caballero's weak punch to score his country's maiden goal in the history of the tournament just four minutes later.   Iceland were indebted to Halldorsson for picking up a point, though, as he kept out Messi's spot-kick shortly after the hour mark.  

Argentina will hope to inject some impetus into their campaign when they face Croatia in Nizhny on Thursday, while Iceland go up against Nigeria in Volgograd the following day.  

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