Iceland goalkeeper, Hannes Halldorsson, has stated that he denied Argentina captain, Lionel Messi from the spot by studying his penalty technique.
Haldorsson’s second-half penalty save earned his team a 1-1 draw in their 2018 World Cup opener.
Messi did all he could to atone for his spot-kick miss, but Iceland defended resolutely until the end.
“I did some homework. It was a situation I knew could come up,” Halldorsson said about the penalty.
“It was is a long shot, but it happened. I looked at a lot of penalties from Messi and wanted to get into his mind and what he would think about me.
“I had a good feeling he would go that way today.
Argentina vs Iceland: Aguero speaks on Messi’s penalty miss
Argentina striker, Sergio Aguero, has spoken about Lionel Messi missing a penalty, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Iceland in a Group D fixture at the 2018 World Cup.
Aguero himself had opened scoring for the South Americans, before Alfred Finnbogason equalized four minutes later.
Messi had the chance to make it 2-1 from the spot, but was denied by goalkeeper Hannes Por Halldorsson.
Aguero says the team will continue to support him and the miss shows he is human.
“The first match is always the most difficult. Everyone wants to play against us,” Aguero said.
“They were defending, their only chances to score were from a set piece or looking for the second play. I think they celebrated the draw as a victory.
“Leo showed he’s human. We support him. He just had a bad day but we know that he can give us the victory at any moment of the game. I hope he can be better for next match against Croatia.”
Written by: Ifreke Inyang
Fuente: dailypost.ng
