After one last Lionel Messi 35-yard free-kick struck the wall, John Strong, semi-accidentally, said that Iceland had beaten Argentina by a score of 1-1. Argentina may have picked up the same amount of points as Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in their first group stage games, but it justifiably felt like a loss.
For Messi, undeniably the best player in the world and soccer’s closest LeBron James equivalent, it will serve as another international disappointment. He had a poorly-taken penalty saved by the suddenly superhuman Iceland goalkeeper, and he put just three of his 11 shots on target.