Argentina captain Lionel Messi has urged the fans to unite and deliver a compelling response to Saudi Arabia’s “hard blow” in the opening match of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Messi’s penalty spot conversion after 10 minutes in Lusail raised the prospect of an Argentina cruise, which was widely expected. Lionel Scaloni’s men threatened to extend their lead several times and had three ‘goals’ disallowed for offside.
However, the valiant Saudis stunned their illustrious opponents with two goals in five second-half minutes to turn the game – and the established order of world football – on its head, leaving them with little room for error in games against Mexico on Saturday and the Robert Lewandowski-led Poland next Wednesday.
“There are no excuses. It is a very hard blow for everyone, we didn’t expect to start like this. We are going to be more united than ever. This group is strong and we have shown it. This is a situation we did not have to go through in a long time. Now we have to show this is a real group,”
said Messi.
Scaloni’s team last lost in July 2019, when they were defeated by Brazil. They were attempting to match Italy’s undefeated 37-match run on Tuesday, and only last summer, beat Brazil in their own backyard to win the CONMEBOL Copa America and end Messi’s long wait for international success.
Argentina solidified their place among the World Cup favourites by easily defeating Italy in the relaunched CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions match at Wembley Stadium in June.
However, La Albiceleste were left to address a number of shortcomings after losing a World Cup match they were leading at halftime for the first time since the 1930 final against Uruguay.
