The Argentina national team opened up its 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign with a defeat, as Saudi Arabia shocked the reigning Copa America champions with a 2-1 victory in the first match of Group C.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi opened up the scoring in the fixture with a penalty goal in the first half. La Albiceleste was quite assertive when on the ball over the remainder of the opening half, although seven offside calls prevented the side from expanding on its lead. In the end, Saudi Arabia scored two sudden goals in the early stages of the second half and then held Argentina scoreless the rest of the way to clinch the upset win.
Speaking after the match (via TyC Sports), Messi noted that Argentina’s lackluster play when on the ball was one reason behind its demise in the game.
“We didn’t find the positioning that we’ve been doing for a long time, we started to throw crosses, trying desperately to find the equalizer and we couldn’t,” Messi said.
Argentina ended up logging more offside calls (10) than shots on target (six) in the fixture. On Messi’s part, he tallied four total shots and created three goal-scoring chances for teammates against Saudi Arabia.
Argentina will now look ahead to a World Cup group stage clash against Mexico coming up on Saturday.
