Lionel Messi scored on his first Argentina appearance since July as they beat old rivals Brazil in Saudi Arabia. Messi had a penalty saved by Alisson in the friendly, but scored the rebound for his 69th international goal. Gabriel Jesus had earlier missed a penalty for Brazil.
Lionel Messi struck on his return to international duty Friday (Nov 15) following a three-month ban as Argentina defeated fierce rivals Brazil 1-0 in a friendly in Riyadh.
The F.C. Barcelona forward was suspended by CONMEBOL for accusing South American football's ruling body of ‘corruption’ after he was sent off in July's third-place play-off with Chile at the Copa America.
Messi netted the only goal of the game at the King Saud University Stadium on 13 minutes, tapping home the rebound after his penalty was saved by Brazil goalkeeper Alisson.
His effort came shortly after striker Gabriel Jesus rolled a spot-kick wide for Brazil, who were playing without the injured Neymar.
Messi, who scored with a pair of free-kicks in his last game with Barcelona, twice threatened from set pieces in the second half before Liverpool 'keeper Alisson beat away a powerful drive from Paredes.
Rodrygo, the 18-year-old who scored a sensational Champions League hat-trick with Real Madrid this month, made his Brazil debut as he replaced Willian for the final 20 minutes.
However, Brazil were unable to find an equaliser as their winless run since capturing the Copa America title extended to five matches.
The meeting between the two South American giants was the second in Saudi Arabia in little over a year. Brazil beat Argentina 1-0 in Jeddah in October 2018.
Brazil also defeated Argentina 2-0 at home in the semi-finals of this year's Copa America, a controversial match that left Messi complaining the hosts had benefited from favouritism.
Argentina are due to face Uruguay in Tel Aviv on Monday (19:15 GMT) but the game could be cancelled due to fighting in Israel.
Brazil will play South Korea in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (13:30 GMT), their last game before the 2022 World Cup qualifiers begin in March.
