Russian president Vladimir Putin has suspiciously put Lionel Messi, Neymar and other football icons to shame on a penalty machine.

A viral video recirculated on X, formerly known as Twitter, of professional footballers trying in vain to beat a virtual goalkeeper from the spot. Argentine football god Messi, among others, stepped up to take a penalty - only to see his attempt thwarted by a seemingly unstoppable shotstopper.

French World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann tried and failed, so too did Brazilian legend Ronaldinho - admittedly, his nonchalant attempt wouldn't trouble most keepers. However, when the video cut to Putin, the Russian tyrant, rather suspiciously, somehow managed to place the ball past the machine's clutches.

"The machine seemed suspiciously slow on that last attempt," one fan said. While a second replied: "Looks like they nerfed the settings to give Vlad a better chance!"

"He just didn't want to get decommissioned," a third joked. And another added: "He probably asked his intelligence services to weaken this machine before coming there..."

Putin took the penalty alongside FIFA's Giovanni Infantino to celebrate the start of the 2018 World Cup - which was being held in Russia. Putin was an interested spectator for the games, and he was snapped sitting alongside Infantino for Russia's opener with Saudi Arabia.

Russia would make it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, where they eventually crashed out on penalties to Croatia. And after their 4-3 penalty heartbreak, a spokesperson for the Kremlin said: "[Putin] watched, he was rooting for the team.

"We lost in a fair and great game. They are still great guys for us, they are heroes. They were dying on the pitch, we are proud with them."

Russia's players might have been hoping to have Putin in their ranks for the shoot-out if they'd seen his pedigree against the penalty machine. Or maybe not.