Lionel Messi has revealed that guilt over a missed first-half penalty, rather than the joy of victory, was the reason he broke down in tears after Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Egypt at the FIFA World Cup.
The Argentina captain admitted he felt he had let his teammates down after his spot-kick was saved by Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir in the 20th minute of Tuesday’s round-of-16 clash in Atlanta.
“I cried because I felt that I let my teammates down because of the penalty I missed and the way I took it,” Messi said after the match.
“But thankfully, once again, God had something special for me in the end. I’m very happy.”
Argentina found themselves trailing by two goals after strikes from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico put Egypt in control.
However, Messi inspired a remarkable turnaround by setting up Cristian Romero to reduce the deficit before scoring the equaliser in the 83rd minute. Enzo Fernández then completed the comeback with a stoppage-time winner to send Argentina into the quarter-finals.
Reflecting on the team’s resilience, Messi said Argentina never believed their World Cup campaign should end at that stage.
“We didn’t want and didn’t deserve to go home. We could not let it end like that.
“This group really deserved to keep going. We never give up, at all. Never,” he said.
Messi’s equaliser was his eighth goal of the tournament, moving him back to the top of the Golden Boot race ahead of Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. It also extended his record of scoring in six consecutive World Cup knockout matches.
The emotional scenes at the final whistle were widely interpreted as significant, with the tournament expected to be the last World Cup appearance of the Argentine legend.
Argentina will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals on July 11 in Kansas City.
(The Whistler)