Queiroz: Two personalities in the game made the difference! The referee and Messi

The Iranians missed several chances for netting the ball, and a goal from Lionel Messi sealed a victory for the South American side.

Iran resisted Argentina’s pressure for 90 minutes and seemed destined for another draw at the tournament until Barcelona star Lionel Messi scored Argentina’s winner in the 91st minute of the match on Saturday.

To much surprise the Serbian referee overlooked the Argentinesˈ tackle in the box which brought down Iranˈs Ashkan Dejagah.

Iranˈs manager Carlos Queiroz criticized the referee, saying the fate of the match was determined by him and Messi.

The chance is still much in play for Iranˈs national football team, but now theyˈll almost certainly have to beat Bosnia-Herzegovina in their last match on Wednesday.

Iranˈs Javad Nekounam and Masoud Shojaei earned a yellow card in this match.

Argentina leads Group F with six points, while Iran and Nigeria have one each and Bosnia-Herzegovina have zero point before the last match of group F in the second round between Nigeria and Bosnia.

Argentina play Nigeria and Iran play Bosnia-Herzegovina in group F on Wednesday.

Argentina advanced into the final 16 of the World Cup with six points. The South Americans opened their campaign with a 2-1 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In the opening 45 minutes, Argentina made several attempts in Iran’s half which were blocked by Iran’s defenders and goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi.

Iran held the match well in the second half and managed Argentina’s heavyweight attacks.

Right after the break, the Iranian squad caught Argentina off-guard with a Reza Ghoochannejad header that very nearly rattled the South Americanˈs net.

In the 56th minute of the match, Ashkan Dejagah was tackled by Manchester City right-back Pablo Zabaleta inside the Argentina box. Replays showed that Zabaleta did not get a touch to the ball and that Iran should have had a penalty.

Dejagah, the Fulham star, almost scored Iran’s first goal in the 67th minute. But Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero tipped Dejagah’s header over the bar.

Iran missed another brilliant chance in the 86th minute after Ghoochannejad lumbered through on goal at the other end after a splendid pass from the substitute Alireza JahanBakhsh. His shot was saved by Romero.

Iran’s coach Carlos Queiroz told reporters right after the match that two people made the difference in the match, the referee and Messi.

The match was the first World Cup encounter between Iran and Argentina. The two had played a friendly match in 1977 in Madrid, with the game ending 1-1.

Iran won its first point of the games in a goalless match against Nigeria on June 16.

The three-time Asian champions are back at the FIFA World Cup after it missed the 2010 tournament in South Africa.