LUSAIL, Qatar: Argentina’s 35-year-old captain and all-time top scorer Lionel Messi shrugged off some fatigue niggles to lead the line on Tuesday in the Group C opener against Saudi Arabia where he begins his last quest for an elusive World Cup trophy.
With Paulo Dybala still not recovered from injury, Lautaro Martinez and Angel Di Maria were up front with Messi in a star-studded team who are one of the favourites to win in Qatar. Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard kept captain and midfielder Salman Al-Faraj in the team after his recent recovery from a shoulder injury.
He has been a cornerstone of Al Hilal’s dominance of Asian club football in recent years. Abdulelah Al-Malki will keep Saudi Arabia’s first line of defence in front of the back line, alongside Al-Faraj. Renard’s attacking duo are Saleh Al-Shehri, the second top scorer in the national squad, and Firas Al-Braikan, who is the highest local scorer so far this season in the Saudi league with four goals in eight games for Al-Fateh.
The Saudi team is entirely home-based, with the local league’s financial clout ensuring few leading players aspire to play overseas. Following are the teams: Argentina: Emeliano Martinez, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Tagliafico Nicolas Otamendi, Nahuel Molina, Alejandro Gomez, Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Lionel Messi (c), Lautaro Martinez, Angel Di Maria. Saudi Arabia: Mohamed Al-Owais, Ali Al-Bulaihi, Yasser Al-Shahrani, Mohamed Kanno, Saud Abdulhamid, Abdulelah Al-Malki, Saleh Al-Shehri, Hassan Al-Tambakti, Salman Al-Faraj (c), Salem Al-Dawsari, Firas Al-Buraikan.
