Qatar World Cup 2022: 'Argentina came out strengthened after that mistake of mine' - Lionel Messi

Former two-time champion Argentina performed splendidly against Poland to seal its place in the pre-quarters of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Played at Stadium 974 - Ras Abu Aboud in Doha on Wednesday night, the former secured a 2-0 success, thanks to strikes from Alexis Mac Allister (46) and Julián Álvarez (67). One of the game's highlights was during the opening half when superstar striker Lionel Messi was denied his spot-kick after Wojciech Szczesny pulled off a stunning save. However, Messi confirmed that his side "came out strengthened" after his mistake. Also, Messi became the joint most Argentine to play WC matches (22), with the other being the legendary Diego Maradona.

Interacting following the triumph, Messi sounded, "The team came out strengthened after that mistake of mine. We knew that once the first goal went in, it would change the game. The previous game gave us a lot of peace of mind, and we went out on the pitch thinking we should win."

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"The game with Australia is going to be very difficult. Anyone beats anyone. Everything is very even. We must prepare for the game the best way we always do. We must be calm and go game by game. Now, another World Cup starts, and hopefully, we can continue to maintain what we did today," added Messi, reports FotMob.

Later, Szczesny revealed that he lost a bet to Messi for believing that the penalty won't be awarded. "We spoke before the penalty. I told him I could bet him €100 that he [the referee] wasn't going to give it. So, I've lost a bet against Messi. I don't know if that's allowed at the World Cup, and I'll probably get banned for it, but I don't care right now. And I'm not going to pay him either! He doesn't care about €100, come on," he disclosed.