Former Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has revealed how his children reacted after Argentina succumbed to a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia.
Lionel Messi has unveiled that his son Mateo left the stadium crying after Argentina lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in their Qatar World Cup opener earlier this week.
Argentina broke the deadlock in the first half after Lionel Messi scored from the penalty spot. They had a number of moments to double or triple their lead but their efforts were ruled out for offsides.
That would take its toll in the second half when Saudi Arabia scored twice late in the game to complete what many described as a ‘massive shock’ comeback.
Following the defeat, Mateo left the stadium crying because he thought his country, Argentina, had crashed out of the competition but Messi confirmed that Thiago had to teach him that Argentina could still go through provided they won their remaining two games.
“After the game against Saudi Arabia, Mateo [Messi] left the stadium crying. Thiago [Messi] was doing the math, explaining to Mateo that if we won both game we would qualify,” Messi said.
Argentina would go on to win their next game 2-0 against Mexico on Saturday and will have to win their next game against Poland if they fancy finishing as the winners of Group C.
Argentina currently have only three points but a defeat to Poland could see them crash out of the World Cup, just as Thiago had taught Mateo.