Magic mortal Messi rescues Argentina and lives to fight another day

ATLANTA, July 7 : Lionel Messi broke down in tears at the final whistle, consoled by his Argentina teammates as the captain appeared to realise just how close his World Cup dream came to ending on Tuesday in a game in which he missed a penalty before coming up with a vital late equaliser.

Argentina were two goals down to Egypt with just over 10 minutes to play in the last-16 tie, before staging a fight back which will live long in the memory of those inside Atlanta Stadium who witnessed Messi show his human side during and after the game.

The finale was a far cry from how the afternoon began, with Messi looking extremely relaxed despite the high stakes, giving a wry smile to the cameras as he waited to emerge from the tunnel and winking at the mascots.

His first touch was a misplaced pass, however,  and when Egypt took the lead Argentina trailed for the first time at this World Cup.

The champions were handed the perfect opportunity to level six minutes after conceding the first goal, but Messi put his spot-kick too close to the keeper, becoming the first player to miss two penalties at a single World Cup, excluding shootouts.

Messi sent a penalty wide in the group game with Austria, missing the chance to break Miroslav Klose's all-time World Cup scoring record, but went on to net twice in that 2-0 win having bagged a hat-trick in the opener against Algeria.

The 39-year-old has since surged past the previous mark of 16, and against Egypt he scored for the ninth consecutive World Cup game, his 21st goal drawing Argentina level at 2-2.

MERE MORTAL MESSI

Messi's first-half performance was well below his imperious standards. He did strike a free kick against the post, but found it difficult to weave his way through the disciplined