The albiceleste faces this World Cup in top form, with an excellent Messi who seeks to put the golden finishing touch to his wonderful career.
Another of the favorites comes on stage in Doha. The current Copa América champion will look for her third star and Saudi Arabia will be the first stumbling block for Lionel Scaloni’s men in the grand final on December 18. All the spotlights will go to Lionel Messi in what, almost certainly, will be his last World Cup. The PSG star will try to guide the albiceleste to glory in what would be the last great achievement of his career.
But in the short term, what this team is after is the historical record for Italy, and that is that if they are not defeated by Saudi Arabia, they will equal the 37 consecutive games without losing for the ‘Azzurra’. A historical challenge that would further reaffirm the candidacy to lift the precious golden trophy in 26 days.
How does Argentina arrive? It was classified as second -after Brazil- in the Conmebol qualifiers and also without losing any match. In this 2022, between friendlies and qualifying matches, the balance is tremendous: seven wins in eight games and with only two goals against. It is true that Scaloni had problems at the beginning of the concentration -Nico González and Tucu Correa had to leave injured-, but the desire for a third star is also joined by the illusion of a country dedicated to the cause.
How does Saudi Arabia arrive? The Saudis reach their sixth World Cup after being first in their group in the Asian qualifying phase for this event. In this 2022 they have only managed to win three games out of the 12 played and have shown significant shortcomings in duels against teams of some renown such as Japan, Croatia, or Colombia. The objective of repeating the round of 16 as in 1994 seems like a chimera in a group like this, but without the pressure that Argentina, Poland or Mexico.
The game duel. Messi vs Al Dawsari. 10 vs 10. Captain vs Captain. The man from Rosario, leader on and off the pitch for the albiceleste, scored 7 goals in the qualifying phase, as did the Al-Hilal footballer. They are the active players in both squads with the most goals scored -91 and 17- and they have earned their own way to lead their teams.
By Fernando Perez (Football Analyst, Spain)
Bengali