Messi’s penalty miss not to blame for draw with Iceland: Maradona

Diego Maradona says Lionel Messi's second-half penalty miss was not the reason Argentina failed to defeat Iceland at the World Cup on Saturday.

Messi saw his spot kick saved by goalkeeper Hannes Por Halldorsson after Alfred Finnbogason had cancelled out Sergio Aguero's 19th minute opener.

"I don't blame the players," Maradona told Venezuelan television channel Telesur.

"I could blame the lack of work rate. But I can't blame the players, much less Messi, who gave it all he had. I missed five penalties on the spin and I was still Diego Armando Maradona," he said.

Maradona added, "I don't think that they dropped two points because Messi missed a penalty."

The Argentina legend issued a scathing assessment and a warning to manager Jorge Sampaoli that he would not be welcome back home unless he changes his tactics.

"Playing like that, he can't come back to Argentina," the 1986 World Cup winner said.

"It's a disgrace. Not having prepared for the match knowing that Iceland are all 1.90m tall... I get the feeling there's a general anger at the heart of the team," said Maradona, himself a former national team coach. 

Argentina take on Croatia on Thursday before their final group game against Nigeria next week.