Lionel Messi breaks silence by declaring himself 'best in the world' after missed penalty

With the third-most followers in the world on Instagram, Lionel Messi used his platform to praise goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez’s heroic performance in the penalty shootout.

Emiliano Martinez made two penalty saves in Copa America quarter-finals((Getty Images)

Lionel Messi used his first public message since narrowly escaping defeat to Ecuador in the 2024 Copa America quarter-finals to thank Emiliano Martinez for his penalty heroics on Friday.

The diminutive forward looked set for another penalty shootout meltdown this summer after putting a Panenka effort onto the crossbar, but a series of superb saves from the Aston Villa goalkeeper ensured Argentina progressed to the next round.

“One step closer… We suffered a lot against a tough opponent,” Messi wrote on Instagram on Friday. “We reached the semi-finals thanks to everyone’s work and on top of that, we have the best goalkeeper in the world. Go Argentina!”

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Argentina looked set to advance to the semi-finals, leading 1-0 at the end of normal time, but a header from Ecuador’s Kevin Martinez found the bottom left corner and gave his country a deserved equaliser. La Tri outshot the reigning world champions 9-8 and controlled 49.3 per cent of possession. Copa America rules dictate that matches in the tournament go to penalties immediately after 90 minutes of normal time, and Martinez made amends quickly by saving Ecuador’s first penalty from Angel Mena.

Martinez gave the Albiceleste the lead in the next round, using his outstretched left palm to push Alan Minda away before performing a celebratory dance towards the Argentina fans. Both teams converted their next five penalties, capped by Nicolas Otamendi’s effort that rolled into the bottom corner to secure their place in the semi-finals.

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Lionel Messi failed to convert his penalty in the penalty shootout((Getty Images)

“Dibu is always there, in those moments he becomes great. In the penalties we had a lot of confidence, even before the game he was joking that we should be calm if there were penalties,” Messi told reporters after the game. “He always has that in mind.”