Gary Neville had his ITV colleagues in hysterics following a quip about Donald Trump and Lionel Messi during coverage of Argentina vs Egypt at the World Cup. The last-16 clash between the two nations was being held in Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon, with a quarter-final berth on the line.
Egypt takes early lead
Argentina found themselves on the back foot early on after Egypt took the lead through a goal from Yasser Ibrahim. The reigning world champions were then handed the chance to draw level in the first half when a penalty was awarded for a foul by Haissem Hassan on Nicolas Tagliafico. Messi stepped up to take the spot-kick, only to see his low effort kept out by Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir.
Half-time analysis sparks laughter
The subject of Messi's penalty miss was debated during ITV's half-time analysis, where Neville was joined by Ian Wright and Roy Keane. Keane was first to address the missed penalty, with the Manchester United icon revealing that those in the studio had sensed Messi would not convert. "To be fair, we were watching it here and Wrighty - we didn't fancy him," Keane said. "We know his record isn't great. As Ally [McCoist] mentioned [in commentary], for a great player - almost lacking belief in himself, it's amazing."
The panel were then asked whether anyone could take over penalty-taking responsibilities from Messi, prompting Neville to reply: "[Donald] Trump?", which led to laughter from the panel. Wright then explained that any player would struggle to step forward and assume penalty-taking duties for Argentina in Messi's place, given his stature within the game. "I can't imagine anybody," Wright said. "Can you imagine being in that dressing room? It's like saying to [Cristiano] Ronaldo: 'No, I'll take them'. [Lionel] Scaloni's not going to say that, either."
Neville's take on superstar players
Neville then added: "They're impossible, these players at that stature, to be able to communicate with around stuff like this. They want every penalty, they want every free-kick."
Second-half drama
In the second half, Egypt believed they had extended their lead through a goal from Ziko, only for the effort to be disallowed due to a foul in the build-up. Yet just moments later, Ziko did find the back of the net for Egypt's second goal, handing his nation a 2-0 advantage in Atlanta.
However, Argentina responded with three goals from Cristian Romero, Messi and Enzo Fernandez to send the reigning champions through to the quarter-final. Argentina will now face either Switzerland or Colombia in the next round.
