“Mateo left the stadium crying” - Lionel Messi reveals how his kids reacted to Argentina’s shock defeat to Saudi Arabia
Lionel Messi has revealed how his sons Mateo and Thiago reacted to Argentina's loss to Saudi Arabia in their first match of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The footballing world was treated to a spectacular shock as the Saudis performed a miraculous comeback to finish the hard-fought game 2-1 on November 22.
🗣️ Leo Messi: “My family always accompany me, they suffer a lot. My children were sick after the first game, Mateo was crying a lot.” https://t.co/EjUIgnsLJM
While many Argentines were understandably displeased, the outcome of the match was a serious cause for concern for Messi's young children. Speaking after their 2-0 win against Mexico, where he scored a wondergoal, the forward revealed how his children reacted to the defeat against Saudi Arabia (via Mirror):
"Mateo left the stadium crying after the first game (against Saudi Arabia) and Thiago came out counting telling me that if we won both games we would qualify.
"My family suffer the same as all Argentines, but we are happy and we get comfortable again because now our progress depends on us."
La Albiceleste had to face a tough Mexico side in their second group stage match, but they came out victorious with a late 2-0 win. Lionel Messi provided a magical moment for the first goal, lacing a low shot into the back of the net from 25 yards out just after the hour mark. The Paris Saint-Germain winger then assisted Enzo Fernandez, whose late effort curled into the back of the net in the 87th minute and secured all three points for Argentina.
Lionel Messi urged his Argentina teammates to "not give up"
Following his brilliant display against Mexico, Lionel Messi warned his teammates against complacency, while urging them not to give up ahead of their final group game.
Speaking in a press conference after the Mexico match, the captain stated (via Vanguard):
“We cannot give up now. We have all the finals to play, we cannot make mistakes. We knew that the response to the people would be like this, I think we complied, we have been together for a long time. I think that at times, especially in the second-half [against Mexico], we went back to being what we are. Now, against Poland, we’ll try to continue in this way.”
Argentina will face Poland on November 30, and they will need to be wary of the Poles' attacking threat with Robert Lewandowski. A loss against Poland would see Lionel Messi and co. kicked out of Qatar in the group stage, with their opponents sitting in first place.