Lionel Messi says Argentina have no excuses after they fell to a hugely disappointing 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in their World Cup opener at Lusail Stadium on Tuesday.
Argentina headed into the tournament as one of the favourites to win their third title, and a Messi penalty put La Albiceleste a goal to the good at half-time as they appeared to be cruising to a first victory in Group C.
However, two goals in the space of five minutes from Saleh Al Shehri and Salem Al Dawsari completely flipped the script, and Messi s side were condemned to one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history.
Messi acknowledged he and his team-mates must not seek to justify the stunning loss, though he hoped it would end up bringing the group closer together.
There are no excuses, Messi told reporters in a post-match news conference.
It s a very hard blow for everyone, we didn t expect to start like this.
We are going to be more united than ever. This group is strong and they have shown it.
This is a situation that we did not have to go through in a long time. Now we have to show that this is a real group.
Things happen for a reason. We have to prepare for what s coming, we have to win and it depends on us.
1930 have lost a World Cup game after leading at half-time for the first time since 1930, in the final against Uruguay . Historical.
— OptaJose (@OptaJose)
After Messi converted from the spot to put Argentina 1-0 up after just 10 minutes, Lionel Scaloni s men remarkably saw three goals chalked off for offside before half-time as Saudi Arabia employed a bravely high line.
The Paris Saint-Germain star complimented Herve Renard s side for their defending, but conceded Argentina could have done more to break through.
Messi said: We knew that [Saudi] Arabia is a team with good players, that moves the ball well and that advances the [defensive] line a lot.
We had worked on it, but that s why we had many goals ruled out. Perhaps we did not find the right moment to avoid falling into the trap.
The defeat ended a run of 36 matches unbeaten, and Messi feels La Albiceleste need to get the fundamentals right to bounce back and salvage their World Cup campaign.
It s the first game, Messi added. It s up to us to correct what we did wrong, [and] try to get back to the base of who we are.
Argentina now face Mexico in a crucial clash on Saturday, before their group stage ends against Poland on November 30.