Argentine star Lionel Messi succeeded in revenge for his country and led him to victory over his Brazilian counterpart 1 / zero in a friendly soccer match that brought them together today, Friday, at the stadium of “King Saud University” in Riyadh.
The only goal of the match came from a penalty kick in the 14th minute, scored by Barcelona’s Messi, to achieve a successful return to his country after the end of the three-month ban from international participation, which was imposed on him because he accused the Football Association of South America (CONMEBOL) of corruption.
The match came on the sidelines of the activities of the Riyadh season and included the preparations of the two teams to start their qualification process for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers on the one hand and prepare for the next edition of the South American Nations Cup (Copa America) scheduled in Argentina and Colombia in the middle of next year.
The Universe had imposed a penalty of suspension on Messi after his criticism of the referees of the match between the Brazilian and Argentine national teams in the Golden Box in Copa America 2019, which ended in favor of Brazil 2/0, then accused the universe of corruption and bias to give Brazil the championship title.
The victory of Argentina today came a little more than a year after the Brazilian team beat its Argentine counterpart 1 / zero friendly in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Before the start whistle in today’s match, Chancellor Turki Al Sheikh, head of the Saudi entertainment authority, was keen to take to the field and shook hands with all the players and the refereeing team, as he went to shake hands with the substitutes, after which the match would start in a festive atmosphere.
