By Michael Church
ARLINGTON, Texas, June 22 (Reuters) - Austria coach Ralf Rangnick acknowledged Lionel Messi's scoring greatness after seeing his side lose 2-0 in Dallas on Monday but questioned whether Argentina's first goal should have been allowed to stand.
Messi, who turns 39 this week, netted twice for Lionel Scaloni's world champions, the first coming in the 38th minute while the clincher was scored in stoppage time to hand the Austrians their first defeat of the group phase.
"If someone is 39
years old and can score two goals and five overall at the beginning of the World Cup, that makes a difference," Rangnick said of Messi, who also missed an early penalty after a VAR review by referee Amin Omar.
"We knew he was on a level of his own and Lionel Messi showed he's one of the best, or even the best.
"But I think we participated in the second goal, that's our own fault.
"For the first goal, I would've asked the fourth official to do what he did before the penalty kick, he should have looked and he would've seen what everyone saw, a foul on (Xaver) Schlager.
"It was annoying. However, I'm overall satisfied with my team and I agree with how they played today."
Messi's double moved him clear as the World Cup's all-time leading scorer with 18 goals and Rangnick admitted there was little his side could do to keep the former Barcelona man quiet for the full 90 minutes.
"This is Lionel Messi," said Rangnick. "He doesn't need many situations to actually decide a match."
Austria had already picked up three points from their 3-1 win over Jordan in their opening match to go into their final group phase clash with Algeria still in contention for a spot in the knockout rounds.
Despite the loss to Argentina, Rangnick was satisfied with many aspects of his team's performance at Dallas Stadium.
"During every match at a World Cup there are phases where one team has the momentum on their side," he said. "It was in our favour, they missed the penalty kick and after that we were in the game.
"I would've asked my players to be braver, to shoot during the second half. We were in control of the ball, most people didn't expect us to be that much in control.
"I think in the second half we put in a top performance."
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Toby Davis)
