Lionel Messi apparently has some cracks in his armor.
“The Flea” missed a first-half penalty kick Tuesday against Egypt in the Round of 16 of the World Cup, and the reigning champions, Argentina, entered halftime in a 1-0 hole.
In the 21st minute, while down a goal, Argentina was awarded a penalty kick, but Egyptian goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir read Messi like a book and leaped hard left to stop the shot dead in its tracks.
Nicolás Tagliafico’s run in the 19th minute was challenged too aggressively by Haissem Hassan, and a penalty was quickly called in the box.
This is Messi’s second missed penalty kick of the World Cup, as he missed the shot altogether during a 2-0 victory over Austria, where he also scored both goals in the win.
Messi is now the first player to miss two penalty kicks in a single World Cup, according to the broadcast.
Argentina is on the ropes as they face a talented Egyptian squad led by Mohamed Salah, formerly of Liverpool.
Yasser Ibrahim scored on a perfectly aligned header in the 15th minute to go up 1-0.
After missing the penalty kick against Austria, Messi said he was “very angry” over the miss.
Messi is historically solid in penalty kicks, having gone 114-33 (78 percent), below elite stars like Cristiano Ronaldo (84 percent), Zlatan Ibrahimović (91 percent) and Harry Kane (86 percent).
Messi is the all-time leading scorer in the World Cup, with 20 goals in 30 matches, and he has an incredible seven goals in this year’s tournament.
It appears that for now, the only knock to his game is penalty kicks, as Argentina has their backs against the wall against a surprisingly strong Egyptian squad.
