Wojciech Szczesny revealed that he and Lionel Messi bet during Poland’s World Cup match against Argentina that the referee would not award a penalty..
Following a controversial decision in which Danny Makkelie pointed to the spot after watching the incident and acting on VAR advice, the Juventus goalkeeper denied Messi from the spot in the first half of Poland’s 2-0 defeat in Group C.
Szczesny was among those who believed it should not have been a penalty, even betting with Messi during the game’s delay – though he has no intention of paying up.
“We talked before the penalty, and I told him I’d bet him €100 that he [the referee] wouldn’t give it..
“I’m not sure if that’s allowed at the World Cup, and I’m probably going to get banned for it, but I don’t care right now, and I’m not going to pay him either!”
Szczesny’s penalty save denied Messi, making him only the third goalkeeper in World Cup history to save two penalties in a single tournament, excluding shoot-outs, having previously denied Saudi Arabia’s Salem Al Dawsari..
However, his celebrations were muted due to the close competition in Group C to advance to the knockout stage, with Poland advancing ahead of Mexico on goal difference..
Yeah, it was nice; I didn’t know it was going to help us get through at the time, so I tried not to celebrate,” he added.”But I’ve had some bad luck in big tournaments in the past; the World Cup four years ago was terrible for me, and I owed this much to the team, and in the last two games I managed to help them a little bit.”
Poland will face defending champions France on Sunday at Al Thumama Stadium in its first appearance in the knockout stage since 1986..
Leave a Reply