Lionel Messi's commitment can't be questioned: Coach

Jorge Sampaoli

Amidst criticism from all quarters for Lionel Messi, who missed a penalty, Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli stood by his captain after the unexpected draw against Iceland here on Saturday.

"It was a difficult game. Iceland made it more difficult with their ultra-defensive approach. They frustrated us by blocking everything; did not allow space for us. Leo Messi is very much committed to Argentina and that cannot be questioned," Sampaoli said. However, he rued the fact that the left side of the Iceland defence was not fully attacked and admitted the lack of offensive creativity against such tight defence.

Hannes Halldorsson, who saved the penalty from Messi to emerge the big hero for Iceland, was asked by a reporter as to why his team celebrated the draw as if it was a victory. With a broad smile, he shot back: "Are you Cristiano Ronaldo's uncle?" Halldorsson said that he had done his homework and was happy to save the penalty from the world's best player in his first World Cup match: "We had some plans and we played according to them.

"They are one of the best teams in the world and we were playing our first match. It was great to have that one point - something on the board." One of Messi's shots was tantalisingly close, the right-footer going over the bar during the dying moments so luck played its part too.

Iceland coach Heimir Hallgrímsson said his team were well prepared to tackle a big team. "We knew Argentina would like to have the ball one is to one, use spaces. We did not give them that opportunity. Rather, we tried to use the space behind them whenever we got the chance to do so," he said.

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