Argentina’s talismanic midfielder Lionel Messi, will grab all the attention when the South Americans, the firm favourites, take on Saudi Arabia in a Group C match at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday. Later in the day, Poland and Mexico meet in the other group match at Stadium 974, Ras Abu Aboud.
The 35-year-old Messi, will be playing in his fifth World Cup and, probably his last. The prolific goal-scorer and creative playmaker, would certainly aim to make this edition memorable by lifting his first trophy in FIFA’s biggest international tournament. The Argentines, who had won the coveted trophy twice in 1978 and 1986, come into this competition riding high on a three-year 35-match unbeaten streak.
The world’s most decorated footballer and six-time Ballon d’Or winner, Messi had stated that he finally has “peace of mind” after achieving his dream by winning the Copa America with Argentina, for his first major success with the national team which had lost three finals at major international tournaments. Argentina lost 1-0 to Germany in the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil before suffering penalty shootout defeats to Chile at both the 2015 and 2016 Copa America tournaments.
“I have peace of mind of having achieved the dream that has been denied to me so many times,” Messi, who after being hounded for his failure to win anything big, was quoted in the media.
But, could this be the crowning moment of glory for Messi as he faces one the biggest challenges taking La Albiceleste to their third World Cup triumph. With the kind of form he and his teammates are in they could definitely strike gold. Argentina is expected to top the group, which includes Mexico and Poland and progress to the round of 16.
Argentina has won the World Cup twice and only time will tell if Messi becomes lucky the fifth time. Under the captaincy of Daniel Passarella they defeated The Netherlands 3-1 over extra-time in the 1978 final at the Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires. In 1986 the country’s and the world’s greatest footballer Diego Maradona inspired Argentina to a 3-2 victory against West Germany at the Azteca stadium, Mexico.
Messi, having won several accolades in club competition, had also won a Gold Medal with the national team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
Injury concerns for Head Coach Scaloni
The La Albiceleste Head Coach Lionel Scaloni has put together a formidable talented squad of players, which besides Messi includes midfielders Rodrigo De Paul and Leandro Paredes, defender Nicolas Otamendi and forward Angel di Maria, but he is faced with injury concerns.
However, early last week, two Argentinian players Joaquin Correa and Nicolas Gonzalez returned home due to injuries. Scaloni is not prepared to take any chances with further injury problems and is not pushing his stars into pre-match training sessions as he wants them to be ready to play the World Cup opening match.
Argentine Football Association (AFA) reported that Messi and six other players have been noticeably absent from Argentina’s field training camp at Qatar University.
Team captain Messi and four other Argentinian national team starters, including midfielders Rodrigo De Paul and Leandro Paredes, defender Nicolas Otamendi and forward Angel di Maria had trained separately from the rest of the team and stayed in the gym.
Two other Argentine defenders, Lisandro Martinez and Juan Foyth, had also skipped the training camp. The team did not stipulate the exact reasons behind the move, however, such injury-prevention techniques are common practice.
The South America champions with an exceptional forward line are not expected to encounter any problems in the match against Saudi Arabia, one of the lowest ranked teams in the competition.
Argentina is next slated to face Mexico on November 26 and Poland on November 30.