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Saudi Arabia pulled off a historic upset to defeat Lionel Messi led-Argentina 2-1 in their opening game of the FIFA World Cup 2022. Reacting to this loss, Messi admitted Argentina have no excuses after they lost their first game of the Marquee Tournament.
Messi opened the scoring with a penalty early in the first half. Then the Argentinians saw three goals being ruled out for offside before Saudi Arabia grabbed a stunning victory. While talking to the media, Messi had some grave comments about his team’s performance.
He said, “We're dead. We didn't want to start that way. We wanted to win, to give peace of mind. There are no excuses. Now, it's time to focus on strength and the unity of the group. It's time for us to be more united than ever. It's time to calm down. It's a hard blow, a painful defeat. We have to keep trusting ourselves. Let's try to beat Mexico to see how the group turns out.”
The match was played at the Lusail Stadium, where the Falcons went down 1-0 early in the first half. Then moments into the second half, Saleh Alshehri levelled the score with a quality finish at the 48-minute mark.
Then just two minutes later, Salem Aldawsari took them in the lead, thanks to his curling finish into the far corner. Then it was a battle of attrition as the Falcons held onto every Argentinian attempt and took home the victory.
Messi then talked about how the Argentinians failed to claim the opportunities which were offered to them throughout the game. "We had chances and we had many offside opportunities," he said. "We made a mistake of speeding up too much.
He further continued, “We knew they would play with a high line. We sped up a little, but after, we started to clutter up, lose functionality and lose the midfield battle. The goal early in the second half confused us. We couldn't find the game we had been showing for a long time. When the game went on, with the result against us, it became more difficult."