First Flight Second Chance by Dhaval Rathod

Things got messier when Argentinian star Lionel Messi failed to score from the penalty spot. Nonetheless, their joy did not last more than five minutes as, in one of the most historic moments in Iceland football, Finnbogason scored their maiden goal in the World Cup to equalize in the 23rd minute. It had all started well for the South American giants when Aguero put them in front in the 19th minute. When the final whistle blew, even the small population of 3.5 lakhs must have been screaming so loud with ecstasy that the whole world heard it as the match ended 1-1. However, very few would have imagined that Iceland would prove to be such a tough “Ice” to crack. In their very first appearance in the most prestigious football event, they were pitted against the mighty Argentina, a country that is 125 times larger than them in population, and one with a very formidable combination of football players. Iceland had already got their name in the history books by becoming the smallest nation ever to qualify for a FIFA World Cup. One cannot imagine to see a faster tilt of fate or a quicker turn of fortunes than what we saw in this match.

With what will go down in history as one of the most heroic and inspirational goals, Toni Kroos wrote a breathtaking salvation story by scoring in the last few seconds of the stoppage time to revive Germany in the competition. Every German face told the same story of agony and anguish.

With just 1 point in two matches and only 10 men on the pitch, the world champions could feel the creek of the exit door. However, they were inflicted with one more heavy setback when their ace defender Jerome Boateng was shown a second yellow and was sent off. The mighty Germans came out reinvigorated in the second half and equalized through Reus in the 48th minute. Following an unexpected and indigestible defeat against Mexico, Joachim Low’s side hit a new ‘Low’ when midfielder Toni Kroos gave away the ball to the opposition at Fisht Stadium, Sochi, a blunder that led to the Swedish goal and almost cost the world champions their crown.

First Flight Second Chance by Dhaval Rathod