Lionel Messi was furious after missing his Panenka-style penalty against Ecuador

The is famous and still risky PanenkaThe penalty kick was popularized by a Czech player Antonin Panenka at the 1976 European Championship. The shot involves slowly lobbing the ball in order to deceive the goalkeeper, it doesn't always work. In fact, some of the greatest players in history have missed this shot and suffered as a result. Such is the case of Lionel Messiwho had spoken about it with some of his teammates and dared to try it during the penalty shootout against Ecuador. The shot hit the bar and Messi was unable to intervene Argentina. However, another heroic performance by Emiliano “Dibu” Martinez helped everyone forget that blunder. But not Messi, he was angry after the match.

Talk to TyC Sports, Lion “I was very angry, I was convinced that I would take it like that. I had spoken with Dibu (Martinez), with (Geronimo) Rulli, I had taken a few penalties. I had not trained, but I had spoken with them. I had shot several times, in fact the goalkeeper dove to shoot, I tried to touch and it went high. I tried to get rid of the discomfort I had, the pain, by training little by little, being a little afraid, letting go little by little. In the last training sessions I felt better and I thought I could be there. I felt good, I had no discomfort, nothing. There is always a little psychological fear of having an injury or discomfort, but on a muscular level I had nothing. (Scaloni) asked me if I was ready to play and I said yes.”

Leo Messi is not 100%

It is important to note that Leo Messi is not at 100% of his abilities because he suffers from muscular problems. Throughout the tournament, the Argentine captain has been light and he has even missed important parts of the Copa America Group stage. Leo didn't perform well due to his physical issues. But the rest of the Argentina team always stepped up when he wasn't 100%. For now, Argentina is in the semi-finals of the Copa America and they are on track for another great performance. The whole country is praying that Messi can fully recover in order to put in another great performance in the semi-finals. Here's his reaction on Instagram after the win.