The first conflict of World Cup 2022 with the Argentine star.

Everyone already knows, but we’ll remind you. Argentina got off to a poor start at the World Cup in Qatar. For the first time since 1990, the South American team was defeated in its first match at the tournament. Then Argentina lost to Cameroon (0:1), and now they failed to cope with Saudi Arabia (1:2).

Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi converted a penalty at the start of the match – at the time it seemed that the opponent had no chance. His goal was historic, scoring the fourth World Cup of his career. But that all changed within five minutes of the start of the second half. The Saudis twice punched goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and took the lead. Immediately after the second goal, the visitors’ defender Ali Al-Boulayhi ran to the center circle, where Messi was positioned.

The Saudi clapped the star player on the back and then said something to his face. Messi initially looked puzzled, but his opponent’s provocative act did not embarrass him. Leo remained calm and then just smiled back. But Messi’s partners in the national team certainly did not appreciate Al-Boulayhi’s performance. Alejandro Gomez and Lautaro Martinez ran to deal with their opponent, and a small scuffle broke out on the field. Messi, meanwhile, tried to get the rest of the team going and set up the ball in the middle of the field.

Despite the offensive defeat, the Argentine team can still get out of the group, all they need to do is win the next two matches. To make watching these matches more interesting we advise you to check out the live betting.

After the match, journalists questioned Al-Boulayhi about his action. The Saudi Arabian national team footballer replied as follows: “I told him, ‘You won’t win, you won’t win!'” The player’s words were prophetic because Argentina really started with a defeat. Messi himself, after the break, did not play the way many people expected of him.

Al-Boulayhi is 33 years old. He spent his entire career, of course, in his homeland. Since 2017, he has represented the Al-Hilal club. He played 37 matches for the national team and came to his second World Cup. Four years ago, Ali sat in the reserve of the game with Russia (0:5), and then spent all 90 minutes with Uruguay (0:1). He didn’t take part in the final match against Egypt (2-1).

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