Diego Maradona: Lionel Messi not to blame for Argentina's faltering start to the World Cup

The 1986 World Cup winner has sympathy for the Barcelona man following his penalty miss in 1-1 draw with Iceland

Soccer Football - World Cup - Group D - Argentina vs Iceland - Spartak Stadium, Moscow, Russia - June 16, 2018 Former Argentina player Diego Maradona watches from the stand REUTERS/Carl Recine

Diego Maradona watched Argentina fail to beat Iceland on Saturday, but had sympathy for his compatriots. Carl Recine / Reuters

Reuters

Jun 18, 2018

Diego Maradona says Lionel Messi's second-half penalty miss was not the reason Argentina failed to defeat Iceland at the World Cup on Saturday.

Messi saw his spot kick saved by goalkeeper Hannes Por Halldorsson after Alfred Finnbogason had cancelled out Sergio Aguero's 19th minute opener as their opening game in Group D finished 1-1.

"I don't blame the players," Maradona, who managed Fujairah last season, told Venezuelan television channel Telesur.

epaselect epa06813012 Lionel Messi of Argentina reacts during the FIFA World Cup 2018 group D preliminary round soccer match between Argentina and Iceland in Moscow, Russia, 16 June 2018.

(RESTRICTIONS APPLY: Editorial Use Only, not used in association with any commercial entity - Images must not be used in any form of alert service or push service of any kind including via mobile alert services, downloads to mobile devices or MMS messaging - Images must appear as still images and must not emulate match action video footage - No alteration is made to, and no text or image is superimposed over, any published image which: (a) intentionally obscures or removes a sponsor identification image; or (b) adds or overlays the commercial identification of any third party which is not officially associated with the FIFA World Cup) EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA EDITORIAL USE ONLY — It was a frustrating start to the World Cup for Lionel Messi and Argentina. Facundo Arrizabalaga / EPA

"I could blame the lack of work rate. But I can't blame the players, much less Messi, who gave it all he had.

"I missed five penalties on the spin and I was still Diego Armando Maradona. I don't think that they dropped two points because Messi missed a penalty."

Argentina take on Croatia on Thursday before their final group game against Nigeria next week.

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