How Lionel Messi’s match went: just ten minutes of magic before falling into Saudi Arabia’s trap

Lionel Messi He started his adventure at his fifth World Cup. And it wasn’t a good start. There is no way. It actually was a mishap. He was far, far from shining in this one Unfinished Energy City, where Lusail Stadium standsthe greatest of all luxury venues enjoying the best football in this atypical end-of-year World Cup in the Middle East, the other place on the planet where many worship it as a pagan god.

He did it with a match where nothing flowed. He, the best in the world, the one who arrived calm and confident, faded as the minutes passed. He went out. It was difficult for Leo to interpret the match that Saudi Arabia offered him. He seemed handcuffed by the overzealous tactical approach designed by the Frenchman Hervé Renard, who did not leave him a personal mark, but took spaces away with a compact block that moved rhythmically, reducing spaces, to always leave him without alternatives to unload clearly or fully accelerate.

And that it all started with the wind, the one that is scarce in these parts, in favour. It took a minute and a half to get his first chance to score in his Qatar 2022 debut. He found a loose ball in the rival box, a present, after a half-round attempt by Lautaro Martínez. He ends up straight on goal, unchallenged, almost from the penalty spot. But goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais reached out and let out the goal cheer that would have been reassuring. For the Argentina national team. And also for him, always lethal in the area throughout his career, but with little luck at the World Cup.

However, Messi quickly took off his backpack after the penalty?, via VAR, committed against Leandro Paredes. Smooth shot on the right by Al Owais, who this time doesn’t have the fortuneteller’s skills to embitter the Argentine captain. It was his seventh cry in 20 World Cup matches.

Those ten minutes were Messi’s best. It’s that, like his teammates, he didn’t feel at ease throughout the first half. Only in the last stretch of the first half did the team begin to let the ball circulate to try and find space. Were the few features of staggered that the Selection showed in this hot noon of Qatar. Leo was looking for his place to finish his plays and couldn’t find it. Nor did he try to dress like a hitch. It has been noticed in power saving mode. Right in the Energy City.

The best didn’t come later. Only a few sparks of Messi have been seen in a forgotten second half. He lost the ball, the result of pressure from Arabia, at 1-1. Then six minutes later came the second. Y confusion turned to despair.

La Pulga was seen as imprecise, at times annoying. Overwhelmed by the game that didn’t work for him and because he never found the space to make a difference. He had a free kick, one of the ones he almost always takes, that went too high. Previously he had participated in a nice triangulation with Di María and De Paul, but just as he was preparing to conclude, the saving grace of Hassan Altambakti arrived. Nor did he know what to do when the arch was left unprotected. He wanted to throw a dribble and ended up with no chance. He also had a header, already on the hour, but ran into Al Owais again.

Too little for Messi, which will surely be with blood in his eyes. Scaloni has always wondered how he would react to adversity against this team, which looks back on an unbeaten record of 36 games. Adversity came at the World Cup premiere. An intelligent and rigorous Saudi Arabia has curbed enthusiasm violently. It’s a painful defeat, yes. It is a defeat that can also be a starting point. Of course, it will take a lot more than the best Messi to get back up the hill.

Doha, Qatar. Special delivery.