Argentine star Lionel Messi admitted that his country’s 2-1 loss to his Saudi counterpart on Tuesday in the World Cup in Qatar constituted a “harsh blow” and “painful defeat”, according to his statements in the mixed area of ​​Lusail Stadium.

Argentina suffered a surprise defeat at the start of its campaign in the third group competitions of the finals, which is supposed to be the last for Messi, who admitted, “It is a very harsh blow, a painful defeat, but we must not lose confidence in ourselves. This group (of players) will not give up. We will try to beat Mexico.” Saturday in the second match for his country.

The 35-year-old believed that he had put his country on the right track to win the three points at the start of its campaign in Group C by scoring the lead from a penalty kick, but Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dosari turned the tables at the start of the second half and gave their country a historic victory.

The French star, Paris Saint-Germain, indicated, “The goal, which was scored quickly (at the beginning of the second half), weakened us… We knew there was a possibility that we would not play in the best way in the first match. We did not find our pace in the game, the style of work that we showed for a long time.” .

And he continued, “With the passing of the minutes and the result against us, things became more difficult.”

When asked about the feeling of the Argentine team after the match, Messi replied with “disappointment”, repeating, “It is a very harsh blow. We did not think we would start like this. We thought we would start well, with three points, as we said before the match.”

And he continued, “It (the victory) would have made us more comfortable. But this group (of players) is characterized by its unity, its solidity. It is time for us to be more together than ever. To go back to the basics and our style of play.”

– ‘We did not underestimate Saudi Arabia’ –

In turn, coach Lionel Scaloni stressed that his team did not underestimate its Saudi counterpart, who achieved one of the biggest surprises in the history of the World Cup at the expense of the 1978 and 1986 champions.

Argentina entered the twenty-second finals, and it is one of the most prominent teams to win the title, after playing 36 consecutive matches without defeat, but this series ended on Tuesday after falling to Saudi Arabia.

After this surprising defeat, which prevented the South American team from equalizing the Italy series for the largest number of consecutive matches without losing, Scaloni said, “We fully respect Saudi Arabia, as is the case for other teams. This was not the reason for our loss today.”

And he believed, “They (Saudi Arabia) are a good team that has very good technical and civilized players on the physical level.”
Despite the national team’s first defeat since June 2019, Scaloni reassured that chances still existed to qualify for the group through the next two matches against Mexico and Poland.

– Will the 1990 scenario be repeated? –

Argentina had previously gone through a similar scenario in 1990, when it began its campaign with a 1-0 loss against Cameroon, which was also the owner of the biggest surprises in the history of the finals, but it continued its way to the final before West Germany denied it its third title.

Scaloni stressed that the most important thing now is “to get up, to face Mexico. They are a difficult opponent, as are all the teams participating in the World Cup. Now, we have to win two matches to continue our campaign.”

He admitted, “Of course it will be difficult. But regardless of the outcome of today (Tuesday), we would have tried in any case to win the three matches.”
Scaloni did not complain about the three goals that were canceled for his team in the first half due to offside, but he said that these decisions, which were taken because of millimeters, cost his team the three points.

He explained, “They adopted a high (advanced) defensive line, and we knew that a goal situation might be in our favor or against us (due to offside). In this case, semi-automatic offside (technique) deprived us of a goal. This is the reality of the situation. We congratulate our opponent.”

And he stated, “It is difficult to accept (the defeat). We could have advanced 2-0, but in two surprising moments, the match changed,” referring to the equalizing goal scored by Saleh Al-Shehri, and then the winning goal that went to Salem Al-Dosari.

He revealed that “after four or five minutes (from the start of the second half), they scored two goals from their only chances on goal,” adding, “Today is a sad day, but as we always say, we must keep our heads up and move forward.”