After having a disagreement with Lionel Messi during a World Cup match the previous year, Saudi Arabia and Al-Hilal defender Ali Al-Bulayhi joked that he is concerned Messi will ask for his departure if the Argentine forward joins the Saudi club. This comes after the defense had the altercation with Messi.
During Saudi Arabia’s historic 2-1 group stage victory over Argentina in Qatar in November, Al-Bulayhi seemed to antagonize the Argentina captain. This victory put Saudi Arabia on the path to becoming world champions.
Although Messi’s father stated that the striker for Paris Saint-Germain has not “signed or agreed” to a deal, a source close to Messi revealed to Reuters that he has been extended a formal offer to play for Al-Hilal in the upcoming season.
“I do not know what will happen, and I am scared that he (Messi) would say, ‘I do not want (player) number five’. Al-Bulayhi shared the following statement with SBC: “I do not know if Messi will come or not, but if he comes, may God protect me.”
“If he comes, God willing, I will not attend the first two days until I monitor the situation from afar so that he may forget me,” the defender, who is 33 years old, continued with a smile. “If he comes, God willing.”
Al-Bulayhi has revealed that he had a conversation with Messi in Arabic during the World Cup. During their conversation, Al-Bulayhi made fun of Messi by stating that he would not be able to beat the Saudis even if the game ran for a very long period.
The Saudi defender claimed that he had not been terrified to face Messi because he had gathered experience from playing Uruguay’s dangerous forward pair Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez at the 2018 World Cup. Cavani and Suarez are considered one of the deadliest attacking duos in the world.
“After the match against Uruguay, I will never be afraid again, even if I face three Messis,” said the player. Messi is a living legend, but I don’t want to talk about him here since he may walk in at any moment. “He is a legend, but in the end we are going up against 11 other people,” he remarked.