FIFA World Cup 2022 | Messi leads Argentina vs Saudi Arabia in final World Cup quest
The Hindu
With Paulo Dybala still not recovered from injury, Lautaro Martinez and Angel Di Maria were up front with Messi
Argentina's 35-year-old captain and all-time top scorer Lionel Messi shrugged off some fatigue niggles to lead the line on November 22 in the Group C opener against Saudi Arabia where he begins his last quest for an elusive World Cup trophy.
With Paulo Dybala still not recovered from injury, Lautaro Martinez and Angel Di Maria were up front with Messi in a star-studded team who are one of the favourites to win in Qatar.
Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard kept captain and midfielder Salman Al-Faraj in the team despite a recent shoulder injury. He has been a cornerstone of Al Hilal's dominance of Asian club football in recent years.
Their team is entirely home-based, with the local league's financial clout ensuring few leading players aspire to play overseas.
Argentina: Emeliano Martinez, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Tagliafico Nicolas Otamendi, Nahuel Molina, Alejandro Gomez, Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Lionel Messi (c), Lautaro Martinez, Angel Di Maria.
Saudi Arabia: Mohamed Al-Owais, Ali Al-Bulaihi, Yasser Al-Shahrani, Mohamed Kanno, Saud Abdulhamid, Abdulelah Al-Malki, Saleh Al-Shehri, Hassan Al-Tambakti, Salman Al-Faraj (c), Salem Al-Dawsari, Firas Al-Buraikan.
In 2021, five women from Mayithara, four of them MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) workers, found a common ground in their desire to create a sustainable livelihood by growing vegetables. Rajamma M., Mary Varkey, Valsala L., Elisho S., and Praseeda Sumesh, aged between 70 and 39, pooled their savings, rented a piece of land and began their collective vegetable farming journey under the Deepam Krishi group.