Messi calls on Argentina to be ‘united’after loss to Saudi

Pre-tournament favourites Argentina, served up the first major shock of World Cup 2022, losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabia despite captain Lionel Messi giving them an early 10th-minute lead at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday.

The defeat to the 51st-ranked nation on the FIFA men’s ranking leaves Argentina rock-botom in Group C. However, they were given a mini-boost by the other result in the group as Poland and Mexico shared points in a goalless draw.

35-year-old Messi, playing in his final World Cup, has called for ‘unity’ among the Argentina camp as they turn focus onto next opponent’s, Mexico.

“It’s time to be united, turn the page and no longer think about what happened,” Messi said ater the humiliating defeat against the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament. “Take reflections, take the positives to improve what we did wrong and think about Mexico. We always said we were going to look to win every game and now more than ever.” Worryingly, Messi also spoke of “anxiety” that crept into his team.

“The goal so early (in the second half) hurt us, it made us confused,” Messi said. “We knew it could happen in the first game, if we didn’t play in the best way we were doing, and I think that happened to us. We didn’t find the performance or the game that we’ve been demonstrating for a long time.”

Doubts raised over Argentina’s fitness post humiliating defeat So much for Argentina arriving in Qatar in ideal shape to win a third World Cup, having won the Copa America last year and been on a 36-game unbeaten run. Now there are doubts springing up everywhere. Are key players fit enough? Does Lionel Scaloni — Argentina’s accidental coach — have the experience to handle the pressure of a World Cup? And can Messi, now 35, still carry Argentina to the one prize in soccer still to elude him? In some ways, the loss to the Saudis was a freak result. They scored with two of their three shots on goal, all of which came in the second half. Argentina could easily have been two or three goals ahead by haltime if it wasn’t for a couple of marginal offside calls only discovered by video review. And Argentina created enough chances late in the game to take at least a draw.