Greens make Argentina see blue; win all Arabs’ joy: VP
Unheralded Saudi Arabia notched one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over Lionel Messi’s Argentina, thanks to a scintillating second half comeback.
On his fith and final quest for the only major trophy to elude him, the 35-year-old Messi scored a 10th minute penalty in a dominant first half display where he and Lautaro Martinez also had three goals disallowed for offside.
Argentina’s last defeat was by Brazil in the semi-finals of the Copa America in July 2019. They are ranked third, 48 places above Saudi Arabia, by world football’s governing body FIFA.
Copa America champions Argentina came into the match in Qatar on a 36-match unbeaten streak and appeared to be on their way to a straighforward victory ater Messi’s penalty.
But Saudi Arabia, the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament ater Ghana, threw caution to the wind at the start of the second half, charging at Argentina’s defence in front of a frenzied 88,012 crowd.
First, Saleh Al Shehri squeezed in a low shot in the 48th minute. Then, to the disbelief of even the Saudi fans, Salem Al Dawsari curled in a scorching strike from the edge of the penalty area in the 53rd minute to leave Argentina and Messi looking uterly shell-shocked in the Group C opener.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, congratulated Saudi Arabia on historic victory.
“Well-deserved victory and combative performance that made all Arabs happy. Congratulations to the Saudi national team, who delighted and entertained us,” tweeted Sheikh Mohammed.
Saudi Arabia declared Wednesday (23-11-22) a holiday for all employees in all government sectors and private sectors. All the schools in the Kingdom will also remain closed on Wednesday on the occasion of the Saudi national team’s victory against Argentine national team in the Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabian footballer Yasser Al Shahrani’s condition was critical ater a nasty injury he sustained due to a collision with the goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais during his country’s match with Argentina.
Al Shahrani let the field on a stretcher ater the collision, which took place during stoppage time in Qatar.
Ater conducting x-rays, it was found that Yasser Al Shahrani had fractured the jaw and let facial bones, and that he needed rapid surgical intervention due to internal bleeding.
Mohammed Bin Salman, Crown Prince of the Saudi Arabia instructed that Yasser be transferred by a private jet to Germany for treatment, ater his injury during the national team’s match versus Argentina.
Lionel Messi said Argentina’s shock loss to Saudi Arabia was a “very heavy blow” but vowed the South American champions would bounce back from the defeat.
“It’s a very heavy blow, a defeat that hurts, but we must continue to have confidence in ourselves,” Messi said ater Argentina crashed to a stunning 2-1 loss in Group C.
“This group is not going to give up. We will try to beat Mexico,” he added.
Messi lamented Argentina’s shock second half capitulation against Saudi Arabia but said he was not surprised by the threat from opponents 48 places lower in the world rankings.
“It’s a situation that this group of players has never been through, it’s been a while since we suffered such a tough blow, we didn’t expect to start like this,” Messi told Argentinian media ater the 2-1 defeat in Group C.
Starting his fith World Cup, Messi had opened the scoring with a 10th minute penalty and Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in a free-flowing first half.
But in the second half, “in five minutes of mistakes that we made, we went 2-1 down and then it was really tough and we lost organisation and started punting the ball,” he said in comments broadcast by Todo Noticias.
Despite plenty of possession ater that, Argentina could not penetrate the Green Falcons, who were competing in their sixth World Cup but had never previously won an opening game.
The entire game was played in an extraordinary atmosphere at the Lusail Stadium, with Argentina’s traditionally massive and raucous following matched by the thousands of Saudis who had come over the border to cheer on their team.
Saudi beat Argentina 2−1; country declares holiday on Wednesday; injured Saudi player flown to Germany; defeat a very heavy blow, admits Messi; well-deserved victory, tweets Mohammed.