Iceland hero Hannes Halldorsson revealed he thwarted Argentina star Lionel Messi from the spot by studying his penalty technique.
Haldorsson’s second-half penalty save earned Iceland an unlikely point in their World Cup opener and brought fresh frustration for Barcelona superstar Messi at a major tournament.
Messi did all he could do atone for his spot-kick miss, but Iceland - conquerers of England at Euro 2016 - stood firm to earn a deserved draw in their Group C opener.
And Halldorsson revealed the secret of thwarting Messi from the spot was hours spent watching clips of the Barcelona superstar;s penalties ahead of the game.
“I did some homework,” he said. “It was a situation I knew could come up.
“It was is a long shot, but it happened. I looked at a lot of penalties from Messi and wanted to get into his mind and what he would think about me.