Gary Neville sparked laughter among his fellow ITV pundits with a joke linking US President Donald Trump to Lionel Messi's missed penalty during the World Cup last-16 match between Argentina and Egypt. The incident occurred during half-time analysis in Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon, where Neville was joined by Ian Wright and Roy Keane.
Messi's Penalty Miss Under Scrutiny
Argentina, the reigning world champions, found themselves trailing early after Egypt's Yasser Ibrahim scored. A penalty was awarded when Haissem Hassan fouled Nicolas Tagliafico, but Messi's low strike was saved by Egypt goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir. Roy Keane noted the panel's lack of confidence in Messi converting: "To be fair, we were watching it here and Wrighty - we didn't fancy him. We know his record isn't great. As Ally [McCoist] mentioned, for a great player - almost lacking belief in himself, it's amazing."
Neville's Trump Quip
When asked if anyone could remove Messi from penalty duties, Neville responded: "[Donald] Trump?" The comment drew laughter from the panel. Wright added that no teammate would dare take over, given Messi's stature: "I can't imagine anybody. Can you imagine being in that dressing room? It's like saying to [Cristiano] Ronaldo: 'No, I'll take them'. Scaloni's not going to say that, either." Neville agreed: "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."
Argentina's Comeback Victory
In the second half, Egypt thought they had extended their lead through Ziko, but the goal was disallowed for a foul. However, Ziko soon scored a legitimate goal to make it 2-0. Argentina responded with three goals from Cristian Romero, Messi, and Enzo Fernandez to win 3-2 and advance to the quarter-finals, where they will face either Switzerland or Colombia.
