Manchester United legend Roy Keane has blamed Juventus winger Angel Di Maria for Argentina’s shock 2-1 2022 FIFA World Cup opening defeat to Saudi Arabia on 22 November.
The football world is still coming to terms with Al Sogour Al Akhdar’s stunning victory over La Albiceleste.
Argentina were heavily expected to beat the Saudis, given the likes of Di Maria, Lionel Messi, and Lautaro Martinez were all chosen by Lionel Scaloni.
They did take the lead through a Lionel Messi penalty in the 10th minute.
However, Herve Renard’s side hit back through brilliant goals from Saleh Alshehri in the 48th minute and Salem Aldawsari in the 53rd minute.
Argentina had 15 shots, six on target, to Saudi Arabia’s three, with the latter converting both of their efforts on goal.
The feeling after the game was that Scaloni’s men were not aggressive enough, and Di Maria, in particular, drew criticism from Keane.
The former Republic of Ireland captain felt that the Juve winger failed to close down players on the edge of Argentina’s box, leading to one of the goals.
He blasted the former Paris Saint-Germain man, saying (via Football-Italia):
“There’s no aggression, there are bodies there, you’ve got to go attack there, they’ve lost all composure. They’ve lost their heads, look at Di Maria… Di Maria, my god!”
Di Maria was not only poor at defending but was also quite wasteful in attack.
The attacker managed two shots, with one being blocked. He completed two of four successful dribbles and three of six accurate crosses.
The defeat was a huge setback for Messi and co as they kicked off their FIFA World Cup campaign in Group C with a shocking loss.
Next up for Scaloni’s men is a vital clash with Mexico on 26 November, with the North Americans drawing 0-0 with Poland in their FIFA World Cup opener.
Di Maria claims that Argentina’s FIFA World Cup opening loss was a fluke
Di Maria is adamant that Argentina’s FIFA World Cup opening defeat to Saudi Arabia is just a slip-up.
He told reporters after the game that his side could have beaten the Middle Eastern side by a 5-0 scoreline.
Di Maria said (via the aforementioned source):
“We could easily have won 5-0, but we lost. That’s all there is to it. We knew Saudi Arabia were going to play like that, we had prepared, but we couldn’t do it. Perhaps we started the moves too early and that’s why we ended up offside so many times.”