The former Argentine football player Diego Maradona said that a missed penalty by the star Lionel Messi was not the reason why the Argentine national football team failed to defeat Iceland on Saturday in their World Cup debut.
In the second half, at 63 minutes, the Icelandic goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson - the star of the match - deflected the penalty that Messi took at medium height and without much power, after Alfred Finnbogason equalized the score after Sergio Aguero's amazing goal at 19 minutes.
"I don't blame the players," Maradona said on the Venezuelan television channel Telesur. "I could blame the lack of work rhythm. But I can't blame the players, and much less Messi, who gave everything he had to give," he added.
"I missed five (penalties) in a row and yet I was still Maradona; Argentina's game and the two points Argentina lost I don't think depend on Messi's penalty, absolutely," he expressed.
Argentina will face Croatia on Thursday before their last Group D match against Nigeria next week in the 2018 World Cup.
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