Tiny Iceland’s tenacious defense frustrated mighty Argentina and earned a 1-1 draw in Moscow on Saturday that will be celebrated much more vigorously in Reykjavik than in Buenos Aires.
Iceland, playing in its first World Cup, fell behind in the 19th minute on a beautiful goal by Sergio Aguero, his first at a Cup.
But just five minutes later, Iceland equalized, as Alfred Finnbogason took advantage of a disorganized Argentina defense to tie the score.
Then Iceland’s defense kicked in, keeping almost the entire team behind the ball and swarming the Argentina attackers, especially Lionel Messi.