Despite Argentina’s dramatic, stunning win over Egypt in the World Cup round of 16, captain Lionel Messi did not smile. Argentina came from 2-0 down to win 3-2, securing a place in the quarter-finals. Yet the Argentine captain was deeply disappointed in his own performance — particularly furious with himself for missing a crucial penalty.
The defending champions got off to a poor start in the match in Atlanta. Egypt took the lead through Yasser Ibrahim in the 15th minute. After falling behind, Argentina had a quick chance to level — winning a penalty in the 21st minute. Messi took responsibility, but Egyptian goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir dived to his right and brilliantly saved his spot-kick. Messi showed his frustration on the pitch after the miss. Speaking about his feelings after the match, the Argentine star said he was very angry and disappointed at failing to score from the penalty. “I was very angry with myself for missing the penalty, very disappointed. If I had scored at that moment, the whole picture of the match would have changed,” Messi said.
But that disappointment didn’t last long. After falling 2-0 behind, Argentina turned things around under Messi’s own leadership. In the 79th minute, Cristian Romero scored off Messi’s assist to narrow the gap. Then in the 83rd minute, the Argentine captain leveled the score himself with a brilliant goal. In stoppage time, Enzo Fernandez’s goal sealed a 3-2 win for Argentina.
On this, Messi said: “Honestly, the way we won and advanced to the next round is the biggest source of joy. Things got tough after we fell 2-0 behind. Coming back from there was incredibly thrilling. We suffered a lot again. But that’s the World Cup — every match here is almost the same, every team is very close in quality. I’m very happy.” After the match, Messi said contributing at crucial moments for the team mattered most to him. “We were playing well. Besides the penalty, we created several clear chances. Their goalkeeper made some extraordinary saves. In the end, I got my chance and managed to score. Despite everything that happened, being able to help this team feels very special to me,” he said.
In this match against Egypt, Messi not only scored but created multiple chances, leading the team’s attack. However, the penalty miss also added an unwanted record to his World Cup ledger — the Argentine captain became the first player to miss two penalties in regular play (excluding shootouts) in a single World Cup. He had also failed to convert a penalty against Austria earlier in the group stage.
Additionally, a free kick he took against Egypt struck the post and came back. Goalkeeper Shobeir’s brilliant performance denied Messi several more chances.
Despite all this, Messi’s performance was exceptional. He became the first player since Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup to score a goal, complete more than five successful dribbles, and create more than five goal-scoring chances from open play in a single World Cup match.
With the goal against Egypt, Messi has taken his World Cup tally to 21 goals, further cementing his position among the tournament’s all-time top scorers. With the assist for Romero’s goal, his total World Cup assists now stand at nine, surpassing Argentine legend Diego Maradona.
Messi remains in superb form at this World Cup. The goal against Egypt was his eighth of the tournament, putting him atop the list of scorers. He has also matched Guillermo Stabile’s record of eight goals for Argentina in a single World Cup, set in 1930.
Praising his team’s comeback, Messi said: “Coming back after falling 2-0 behind wasn’t easy. But that’s this team’s character. We never give up. We fight until the last moment. Today’s win is a moment we can be proud of.”
With this dramatic win, Argentina has kept alive its dream of a second consecutive World Cup title. The biggest strength of Lionel Scaloni’s team has become its mentality of fighting back from adversity.
Argentina will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals this coming Sunday, Bangladesh time. Under Messi’s leadership, the campaign to defend the title has advanced one step further.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report