DOHA, Qatar — Lionel Messi said he was “annoyed” by his penalty miss in Argentina‘s Group C clash with Poland, but praised his teammates for the positive reaction which saw the South American champions seal a 2-0 win to book a Round of 16 tie against Australia.
Argentina, who lost their World Cup opener against Saudi Arabia, finished top of their group after second-half goals by Alexis Mac Allister and Julian Alvarez led them to a 2-0 win over Poland.
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After starting the game in second place and needing to win to be certain of qualification, Argentina’s hopes were hit when Poland keeper Wojciech Szczesny saved Messi’s 39th minute penalty.
Mac Allister’s goal in the 46th minute put Argentina on course for victory, though, and Messi said he never doubted Argentina would win despite his spot kick miss.
“I’m annoyed that I have missed the penalty,” Messi said. “But the team came out stronger after my mistake.
“The team was convinced that we were going to win, it was a matter of scoring the first goal. After that, the rest of the game was played the way we wanted.”
