Gulf Today, Staff Reporter
In a blitzkrieg performance, Argentina beat UAE 5-0 in a friendly match at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
The argentines opened their account with a classic assist from Messi at 17 minutes. The goal was scored by Julian Alvarez. Angel Di Maria scored twice at 25 and 36 minutes, Lionel Messi at 44 minutes and Joaquin Correa at 80'.
Messi, 35, has a sackful of trophies but the tournament in Qatar is likely to be his final chance to equal the achievement of fellow Argentine great Diego Maradona, a winner in 1986.
Julian Alvarez broke the deadlock and opened the scoring in the 17th minute to put Argentina ahead against the UAE in their friendly match on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi.
Angel Di Maria added one more in eight minutes later to extend the lead to 2-0. UAE tried hard to curtail the lead but they failed to convert their chances into score.
Di Maria was in stellar form and almost unstoppable as he dribbled and dazzled in the field. He scored another in the 36th minute to make it 3-0.
Argentina were welcomed by the fans who cheered both the teams alike. Lionel Messi converted a pass from Di Maria and tapped the ball into the post as Argentina made it 4-0 by the end of the first-half.
World Cup-bound Argentina are playing their last warm-up game ahead of the showpiece event in Qatar.