FIFA: Messi scores but Saudi Arabia shocks Argentina 2-1 in Group C opener

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is billed as Lionel Messis last one and arguably his best shot to win the one trophy missing from his collection But on Tuesday his ambition to lay hands on the glittering trophy suffered a huge blow as the South American giants crashed to a shocking 21 loss at the hand of minnows Saudi Arabia in the Group C openerOn Tuesday none of the 88012 spectators at the Losail stadium the arena which will host the final on December 18 had the faintest of thoughts of the Asian minnows upstaging their famous rivals when the match kicked off But in the end an upset result did happen with Saudi Arabia walking away with full points thanks to goals from Saleh Al and Salem Al DawsariThe match had everything you could have asked for which kept everyone on their toesA goal within the first ten minutes of the match VAR coming into play twice in the opening half first time Argentina earned a penalty and the second going in Favour of Saudi Arabia with a goal ruled as offsideA lot happened in the first half of the opening match of Group C between reigning Copa America champions and the Asian giantsArgentina struck to a game plan of putting up loads of men upfront wellspaced with one on each touchlineA secondminute move stitched together by Angel Di Maria and Lautaro Martinez gave an insight into things to follow With six players upfront Di Maria using the width on the right crossed it to Martinez only for the ball to run loose and onto the left leg of the onrushing MessiThe mercurial 35yearold made the connection but could not bend inside the far corner but found Mohammed Alowais in the way who dived to deflect the ball away from the goalArgentinas attacking play yielded results Messi who was entrusted with a freekick on the left flank set up Rodrigo De Paul on the edge who shot into a defender The referee went to consult VAR and Saud Abdulhamid was adjudged as having brought down Leandro Paredes resulting in a penalty for ArgentinaMessi stepped in to take the kick from the penalty spot pigeon steps then hop and with the keeper committing early went down the right rolled left sending the keeper the wrong way giving Argentina the start they wantedAlthough Saudi Arabia conceded an early goal they were not overawed by the situation they continued to play the offside trap to superb effect But at times they left a lot of space behind leaving them suspect to balls over the topThe Saudis came into their own and combined to make a few forays into the rival half They were committing men forward which shaped into an enjoyable contest One such move down the right allowing Abdulhamid to cross from the right but Damian Martinez dived forward to collectAt the other end Messi scored for the second time in the match in the 22nd minute but was pulled offsideA good 13 minutes later Lautaro Martinez got into a oneonone situation stepping over to commit the keeper before rolling in but the goal was ruled out after a VAR reviewAlso Read FIFA World Cup 2022 Itrsquos a draw deal for Gareth Bale amp CoIn the second half Saudi Arabia came back strongly and scored within three minutes after the start Saleh Al Shehris leftfooted shot from the left side of the box ended in the bottom right corner giving a finishing touch to a move by Feras Al BrikanThe Saudi Arabia supporters who were outnumbered by the blue and white Tshirts in the stadium suddenly went full blast with their vocal support for their teamAnd the players did not let them down with the MiddleEast giants scoring a second goal in the 53rd minute with Salem Al Dawsaris rightfooted shot from the left side of the box finishing in the top right cornerWith Argentina down by a goal coach Lionel Scaloni went into a gamble and brought in three players on the turf with Marcos Acua replacing Nicols Tagliafico Enzo Fernndez coming in for Leandro Paredes and Julin lvarez taking the place of Papu GmezThereafter Argentina pressed home for the equaliser but could not beat the last line of defenseA few of the Argentina players came close to scoring with Enzo Fernndezs header from the centre of the box going over the top and then a Messi header from the centre of the box saved on the goal line in the 83rd minute A few minutes earlier Messis leftfooted shot off a direct free kick from outside the box narrowly missed the topright cornerThe Saudis resorted to a lot of physical play to keep their opponents in check and the referee had to reach out to his pocket to show the yellow cards to Abdulhamid Abdulelah Al Malki Salem Al Dawsari and Ali Al BulayhiSaudi Arabia also brought in fresh legs to maintain the slender onegoal lead with Sultan Al Ghannam replacing Saleh Al ShehriThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute 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