Missed penalty spurred 'very angry' Messi to World Cup history

Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi may have scored twice against Austria but he was still very angry with himself for missing a penalty (Paul ELLIS)Lionel Messi said he was "very angry" with himself for missing a penalty -- and channelled it into scoring twice to make World Cup history on Monday.

>The Argentina captain hit a brace to give the holders a 2-0 win over Austria in Texas, his first goal making him the leading scorer ever at the World Cup with 17 goals.

>He added number 18 in second-half injury time to propel Argentina into the last 32.

>But it might have been even better for the player widely regarded as the best in the history of football, having dragged a weak penalty wide early on with the game at 0-0.

>"Today there was a moment where I was very angry about the penalty because I missed and I struck it very badly," said Messi, who turns 39 on Wednesday.

>"Luckily we were able to turn the situation around, take the lead and take three very important points."

>For all his brilliance, Messi -- who turns 39 on Wednesday -- is surprisingly poor from the penalty spot by his standards.

>He also saw his spot-kick saved by Wojciech Szczesny in a 2-0 win over Poland at the 2022 World Cup, where Argentina went on to be champions, and missed at the 2018 tournament.

>Messi, who now plays for Inter Miami in the MLS, did not commit until late on to playing his sixth World Cup.

>He also came into the tournament under a small injury cloud over his hamstring.

>But he swiftly wiped away any doubts, scoring a hat-trick to dismantle Algeria 3-0 in Argentina's opening match.

>After fluffing his penalty, Messi swept home on 38 minutes to trigger pandemonium at the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

>Argentina failed to really build on that in the second half.

>Austria, who beat debutants Jordan 3-1 last time out, proved stubborn opponents and even had a couple of glimpses at goal themselves before Messi's second.

>"A very hard victory, the truth is that we knew that it was going to be a match of great intensity," said Messi.

>He added: "This World Cup is all very even games... no one gives anything away, today there was also a lot of intensity."

>Argentina will go through as Group J winners if Jordan do not beat Algeria

>The winners of Group J face the runners-up in Group H. Second in that group is currently Uruguay.

>Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni could now choose to rest his talisman for the match against Jordan on Saturday.

>Messi said they want to go through with the maximum nine points.

>"We're Argentina and we're always going to look to win against any opponent," he said.

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