Even on the night he claimed the record as the World Cup’s all-time top scorer, the start was not a pleasant one for Lionel Messi. The Argentina captain failed to convert a penalty won early in the match. But he turned that disappointment into strength, scoring twice to lead Argentina to a 2-0 win over Austria and secure a place in the knockout round.
In the ninth minute, after Lautaro Martinez was brought down in the box, the referee first waved play on, then changed his decision with the help of the video assistant referee (VAR) and awarded Argentina a penalty. With the chance to become the World Cup’s all-time top scorer in front of him, Messi failed to find the target from the spot.
The disappointment of the penalty miss did not last long, however. In the 38th minute, he started the attack himself and finished superbly to put his side ahead, taking his World Cup tally to 17 and moving past the German legend Miroslav Klose. Then, right at the end, in the fifth minute of injury time, Julian Alvarez’s shot was blocked, and after his own first effort at the rebound failed, Messi found the net at the second attempt to seal the 2-0 win and take his World Cup goals to 18.
After the match, the Argentine great spoke mostly about the importance of the win. ‘I am really very happy about this win. It was a very important win. We fought hard and won it as a deserving side. This gives us a lot of relief before the matches ahead,’ he said.
Messi felt the pressure on the team had also eased after securing the knockout round. ‘This is the World Cup. Every match here is hard and fiercely contested. We have got six points and secured the knockout round. Now we can at least look ahead with some relief,’ he said.
The most talked-about moment after the match, though, was his comment on the penalty miss. On the night he set the record as the World Cup’s top scorer, Messi said jokingly: ‘The whole way it happened is really beautiful. Today I got a penalty from which I could have widened the margin. But if I had scored that penalty, maybe I would not have got the other two goals later. You can never say for sure. But I am very satisfied with the result, the performance and the team’s work.’
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report