Argentina shocked the world by falling at the first hurdle of the World cup, losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabi after a dismal display. This brings unwanted attention and scrutiny to Messi who was anonymous during the second half. Considering Argentina is tipped as one of the tournament favourites and given their world-class talent, their performance was well below par.
A video has emerged after the game showing Saudi Arabia’s Ali Al-Bulayhi aggressively slapping Messi’s back while shouting in the face of the 35-year-old. Messi who seemed completely taken aback by this, couldn’t help but laugh.
When asked after the game Al-Bulayhi said “I told him: you will not win, you will not win!”
The unusual incident encapsulated the intensity that Saudi Arabia played with, which essentially won them the game.
For Messi and Argentina, they will look to bounce back in their next group game when they face Mexico on Saturday. If they fail to get a result at the weekend they could be looking down the barrel of a group stage exit, for the first time since 2002.