Messi misses penalty kick, Iceland ties Argentina | World Cup roundup

If there is one flaw in Lionel Messi’s genius, it might be his failure to score penalty kicks in big games.

Add Messi’s saved attempt against Iceland on June 16 at the World Cup to misses for Argentina in shootouts for the Copa America title, and for Barcelona in a Champions League semifinal match that was later lost.

At least Messi’s miss in the 64th minute at Spartak Stadium in Moscow — his fourth in his last seven penalty attempts for his club and his country — was not in a losing cause. A 1-1 draw with impressive World Cup newcomer Iceland is far from a fatal blow to Argentina’s chances of advancing from a well-balanced group that also includes Croatia and Nigeria.

“It hurt missing the penalty. It could have given us the lead and that could have changed the match,” Messi said. “It would have changed their game plan, too. They probably would open a little bit more and we could get more space.”

The day after Cristiano Ronaldo scored three times from three shots on target — including a penalty and a spectacular free kick — to salvage a point for Portugal against Spain, Messi’s tally of 11 shots, only three on target, and no goals was curious.

The score was already 1-1 when Argentina was awarded the penalty after Hordur Magnusson’s tumbling fall over Sergio Aguero as both chased Messi’s floated cross. Messi placed his shot to the right of Hannes Halldorsson, but the Iceland goalkeeper dived and got two hands behind the ball.

“I did my homework. I looked at a lot of penalties from Messi,” Halldorsson said. “I had a good feeling that he would go this way today.”

Messi had a final chance to redeem his team with the final kick of the game, but his free kick from 25 yards failed to clear a solid defensive wall. It summed up the entire second half of resolute hard work by Iceland.

At the end, Messi retreated alone into the center circle with his head bowed and hands on his knees.

The Argentina great, considered by many to be the best player of all time, has missed more than 20 penalty kicks in his career.

“That’s just another statistic, it’s part of the past,” Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli said of Messi’s latest miscue.

Croatia tops Nigeria

Even in a more defensive role, Luka Modric can still lead the attack.

The Croatia midfielder scored one goal and set up the other in his team’s 2-0 victory over Nigeria in Kaliningrad, Russia.

Modric sent in a corner that was headed by two teammates and then deflected into the net by Nigeria midfielder Oghenekaro Etebo in the 32nd minute.

“We scored at the perfect moment. After that it was easier for us to play our game,” Modric said. “After the first goal we started creating chances.”

Modric later converted a penalty in the 71st after William Ekong held onto Mario Mandzukic. It was the fifth penalty awarded in four World Cup matches on Saturday.

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr felt his team also deserved a penalty.

“There were also so many fouls in the other box, they could have also given a penalty for us,” Rohr said.

Croatia, with Modric and Ivan Rakitic controlling the midfield, dominated most of the match and rarely allowed Nigeria to get close to goal. It took nearly an hour for the Nigerians to have an effort on target — a header by Odion Ighalo straight at goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.

Croatia now leads Group D with three points and next plays Argentina on Thursday in Nizhny Novgorod. Nigeria will take on Iceland a day later in Volgograd.

“We have the youngest team in this World Cup,” Rohr said. “Let them learn from this match, from this defeat.”

Denmark edges Peru

Whether Kasper Schmeichel was making an acrobatic save or just getting lucky, it was his night.

In a World Cup debut reminiscent of the way his father, Peter, played for Denmark and Manchester United, Schmeichel made Yussuf Poulsen’s opportunistic second-half goal stand in a 1-0 victory over Peru in Saransk, Russia.

“It’s good to have a good goalkeeper, let me put it that way,” Denmark coach Age Hareide said. “He is acrobatic and a very quick goalkeeper. He had a fantastic performance and we needed it. You have to acknowledge the performance of Kasper today.”

Poulsen squeezed his goal between charging Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese and the left post in the 59th minute after collecting an angled pass from midfielder Christian Eriksen.

Technology helps France

Technology twice helped France at the World Cup as the 1998 champions labored to beat a gritty Australia 2-1 in their opening game in Kazan, Russia.

The French team was given a controversial penalty kick, eventually converted by Antoine Griezmann in the 58th minute, after the referee watched the replay of a foul on the sideline.

Paul Pogba later scored the winning goal in the 81st minute, and goal-line technology was used to confirm the ball had crossed the line after bouncing down off the crossbar.

“I’m not going to complain about the use of video today,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “It helped correct a mistake.”

Pogba had been unimpressive until the goal, but the Manchester United midfielder set up a 1-2 with substitute Olivier Giroud and beat Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan to give France the victory.