Lionel Messi opens up on shock defeat to Saudi Arabia in the World Cup and how the loss helped the Argentina squad

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Lionel Messi recently opened up about Argentina being beaten by Saudi Arabia in their opening match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia, 2-1. And after Messi opened the scoring in the tenth minute from a penalty kick, Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dosari scored a goal for the Asian country to decide the return.

The former Barcelona striker recently spoke out about the match, telling beIN Sport:

“I think the first match was one of the defining moments for us, apart from the fact that it was a big blow for us. I think from then on we started to think and play differently because we knew we couldn’t make any more mistakes, any mistakes would take us out of the competition.” .

Messi admitted they did not expect the tournament to start this way but claimed the wake-up call came at an opportune time for Argentina. He said:

“We weren’t expecting to start like this, we lost the first game against Saudi Arabia which we thought or had the idea was going to be the easiest match of the group, in fact it was quite the opposite. It was one of the most difficult moments for us and obviously the win against Mexico brought it back.” To our hands again and we were able to play calmly.”

he added:

“Looking at everything that happened, even though it was a hard blow for us, it came at the right time and it was good for us.”

Despite a nightmarish start, the Argentina national team went on to win the World Cup in Qatar. Lionel Messi starred in the victory. The 35-year-old scored seven goals and provided three assists, earning him the Ballon d’Or.


Sergio Busquets joins Lionel Messi at Inter Miami

Lionel Messi’s time in European football is over as he is set to join David Beckham’s Inter Miami as a free agent this summer.

Messi will have a face as familiar as his new teammate. Inter Miami have announced that Barcelona legend Sergio Busquets will also join as a free agent. The Spaniard has already played his last game for the Blaugrana and is set to leave at the end of this month.

Messi and Busquets were teammates in Barcelona and shared the field in 567 matches, the most the Argentine shared the field with any teammate. Together, they have won three UEFA Champions League titles, among other titles.

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