Argentina v Saudi Arabia: World Cup 2022 – live

Read More

On which point, what’s the optimal World Cup experience for players returning in shape? Presumably those who don’t go or go and don’t play won’t be match-fit; those who go out in the groups and last 16 will also have too much time off; and those who depart the semis and final will have played too many emotionally demanding games. So I’m going for a quarter-final exit, which would be good news for teams with lots of English players, etc etc.

Keane also said the World Cup has no business being in Qatar, with which it’s hard to argue. Aside from the human rights aspect, I can’t get my head around the footballing aspects: players who’ve slogged their entire lives to earn the right to play, but can’t because they’ve had no time to recover from injuries, and then those who reach the final will have no time to assimilate the greatest and worst moment of their lives, but will instead have to hike back to the European winter and Leeds away, or whatever.

Back to the serious stuff, “We’re talking about common decency – how you treat people,” says Roy Keane, absolutely nailing how to respond to anyone who uses “woke” or “political correctness” as an insult. Things can be difficult, different and complex, but compassion, especially for the vulnerable, should be at the centre of everything.

Decent player imo.

Email! “Irish Saudi fan here in Jeddah,” says Ger Clancy. “The whole country has just been given a half-day to watch the game and there’s an epic stampede to get home. Thankfully I left even earlier and am eating some dates on my couch watching the build up on ITV bootleg. Watch out for Kanno, Al Shehri and Al Dawsari. Dont know much about the other crowd….!”

ITV are running a piece on sportswashing and Saudi, which is harrowing to say the least. I actually wonder if that’s what we’re really seeing, or if their involvement in football is more about ego, money and power. I’d also not seen the clip of Eddie Howe being asked about human rights abuses and responding that he was “bitterly disappointed” about that day’s defeat. It really puts football out of perspective.

Something to read while I scrawl the teams onto some paper: what makes the perfect World Cup, and what’s our responsibility when enjoying this one?

Wondering about Argentina as potential winners, I wonder if they’ll have the midfield control in the biggest games, and if the better sides might exploit the space behind their full-backs. But here’s one reason to hope they make it, from RDP on his tatts:

A lot of them have a specific meaning: the names of my daughter, wife and mother … I think I’m going to stop. Unless I become world champion, in which case I’ll get a tattoo of the World Cup on my chest.”

This, from Paredes on Messi, was also good:

If we win the World Cup, I’d be happier for him than I would be for myself.”

I love the reverence players have for the best of them – listening to Stephen Hendry commentate on Ronnie O’Sullivan is one of my favourite joys – and am reminded that there used to be a tradition in Argentina that you sent your top from your debut to Maradona where it was stored in what was known as “the room”, containing all his memorabilia. I know this because my best mate has been in it. I am sat in a box room in north London.

Talking of Fernandez, I loved this from his Guardian profile:

Former Primeira Liga coach Jose Peseiro told A Bola: “With his passing and vision he’s a bit like Zidane. Enzo is only 21 years old? Either that’s a lie, or he’s a genius.”

So Lionel Scaloni goes for Otamendi and Romero at centre-back, which tells us how highly he rates them given Martinez is also available. In midfield, he’s got a really interested mix of solidity, with Paredes, general purpose activity in De Paul, and unpredictability in Gomez – though I wonder if Fernandez might force his way into the reckoning at some point. I hope so, because he is very special. Meanwhile it’s as expected in attack – though I’d not be surprised to see Julian Alvarez affect this tournament from the bench.

I make it six minutes of coverage before ITV started banging on about England.

Argentina (4-3-3): Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico; De Paul, Paredes, Gomez; Messi, Martinez, Di Maria. Subs: Armani, Rulli, Foyth, Montiel, Pezzella, Acuna, Palacios, Rodriguez, Mac Allister, Fernandez, Alvarez, Correa, Almada, Dybala.

Saudi Arabia (4-3-3): Alowais; Abdulhamid, Altambakti, Albulaihi, Alshahrani; Kanno, Almalki, Alfaraj; Albrikan, Alshehri, Aldawsari. Subs: Alyami, Alaqidi, Madu, Alamri, Alburayk, Alghannam, Aldawsari, Alnajei, Alhassan, Otayf, Alabed, Alobud Bahbri, Asiri.

Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)

Good news for all the preamble writers out there: Lionel Messi starts for Argentina.

It was once put to Juca Kfouri, the Brazilian football writer, that Zico never won the World Cup. “Well,” he retorted, “that’s the World Cup’s bad luck”.

And in a way, Brazil’s failure to lift the trophy in 1982 – and 1986 – actually elevates their standing, cementing them in our hearts because it’s easier to identify with tragic heroes than heroic heroes. Or, put another way, because – as we always are when we think we’re thinking about someone or something else – we’re really thinking about ourselves. But it’s also easier to identify with them because they stood for something important: “Beauty comes first, victory is secondary – what matters is joy,” was how Socrates put it.

Which brings us onto Lionel Messi. Our relationship to him is different partly because Argentinian football culture is different to Brazilian football culture, its focus on winning by whatever means necessary. But it’s a personal thing, too – though Messi is perhaps the greatest player there’s ever been, he’s been so adept at concealing his essence that all we know of him is the genius we see on the pitch, meaning there’s no personal connection. So from our perspective – there we are again, punkt in the centre of things – he could do with inspiring a famous win here, so that people he neither knows nor cares for don’t think less of a bloke who’s 487 goals in 559 club games and 91 in 165 at international level; been awarded seven Ballon d’Ors; and won 10 La Liga titles, plus four Champions Leagues.

Really, though, it’s nothing to do with us whatsoever: Messi needs to win this for himself, so he ends his career with no regrets. And the good news for him is that he’s got a decent chance: Argentina have a strong defence, solidity and creativity in midfield, and serious firepower up front. The bad news for him is that he might be carrying a knock, but reports suggest he’ll be fine.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, were good in qualifying but have been less so since. They are, though solid at the back: in 12 games this calendar year they’ve conceded just six times, keeping clean sheets against Australia, USA and Ecuador, limiting Colombia and Croatia to just a single goal, and only letting in more than that once. Here we go!

Kick-off: 1pm local, 10am GMT