Although he failed to take a penalty kick in the match against Ecuador, Messi still has a fairly high winning rate. This is in contrast to his penalty kicking ability in the match.
In the Copa America quarter-final against Ecuador, Messi failed to take a penalty kick when he missed a Panenka. Fortunately, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez shone when he saved two penalties from his opponent. That helped Argentina win 4-2 after the “shootout”, reaching the semi-finals.
Messi only missed 2/13 penalty kicks in the penalty shootout (Photo: Goal).
Interestingly, this is only the second time Messi has missed a penalty in a penalty shootout. At both club and national team level, El Pulga has stepped up to take penalties 13 times and succeeded 11 times. Before missing the penalty against Ecuador, the superstar number 10 had only failed once. That was in the 2016 Copa America final, when Argentina lost to Chile.
If Messi’s penalty kick rate in the “shootout” is not too bad, his ability to succeed when taking penalty kicks in the match is very bad.
According to Sporting News, Messi has taken 141 penalties in his career (not including shootouts), but he has only succeeded 110 times and missed 31. El Pulga’s success rate on the 11m mark is only 78%.
Messi’s time at PSG saw him take the worst penalties with a success rate of only 67%. His success rate when playing for Barcelona was 77% and for the Argentina national team was 81.5%.
Messi’s success rate on 11m is much lower than his great rival C. Ronaldo. This number for CR7 is up to 84%.
Messi’s penalty success rate in the match was only 78% (Photo: NYT).
In 2018, after failing to take four penalties at club and national team level, Messi admitted that practicing penalty kicks was more difficult than other skills. He said: “I want to be more effective from the penalty spot but it is difficult to do.
Taking penalties in a match is completely different from taking them in training. You always have an idea in your head, but when you’re under pressure, it’s difficult. The goalkeeper also plays a big role in penalty situations. If they guess the right direction, they can save it. But obviously, I always want to be better at taking penalties.”
In the Copa America semi-finals, Messi and his teammates will meet Canada again. This match will take place at 7:00 a.m. on July 10.
