Final Scoreline for Match 27:
ARGENTINA - 1
(Messi 91')
IRAN - 0
All it took was one moment of Messi brilliance in added time to save Argentina the blushes from what would have been a disappointing draw.
Full marks to Iran for keeping Argentina out for the whole duration of 90 minutes, plus pressing down on them more than once to go close to scoring a goal themselves!! Clearly, they were the better team in the second half. Argentina by and large disappointed throughout the game, squandering many chances + hitting the ball wide of goal more than once. The collective Argentinian radar seemed to be off-radar for the duration of the game, until the first minute of added time when Messi unleashed a very special bit of Messi magic - hitting the ball from way out of the box and curling it inward towards the far corner of the post, beating the Iranian keeper by mere inches to net the winner.
But if Argentina disappoints like this, they might not go too far. Messi can't bail them out everytime like he did tonight. Time for them to do some introspection and get a bit more aggressive, rather than their lackadaisal approach for tonight's game.