STARS ALIGNED FOR US, SAYS SAUDI MANAGER

SAUDI ARABIA manager Herve Renard felt fate was on his team’s side as they pulled off one of the greatest shocks in World Cup history.

A stunning second-half comeback, with goals from Salem Al Dawsari and Saleh Al Shehri, cancelled out Lionel Messi’s opening penalty and enabled Saudi Arabia to beat Argentina 2-1 in the venue that will host the final.

Saudi Arabia have announced a public holiday today in celebration. Renard, a Frenchman who managed Cambridge United for five games in 2004 and took Morocco to the 2018 World Cup, tried to keep a lid on expectations, but he felt Saudi Arabia’s extra hunger had enabled them to pull off a staggering result.

‘Sometimes the stars in the sky are on the same line,’ said Renard. ‘This time it was for us. Do not forget Argentina, they are a fantastic team. They have amazing players but this is football and sometimes things happen that are strange.

‘The first quality my players have when they are winning is that they are flying in the sky, so I will be on their shoulders all the time now and I will tell them to keep their feet on the floor! ‘We have to play Mexico, the No 16 team in the world, and Poland with an amazing striker (Robert Lewandowski).

‘This was fantastic. We made history for Saudi football. This will stay with us for ever but we need to look forward. Anything can happen. You can lose your first match and still become world champions.’ Renard added: ‘During half-time, I was not happy because the pressure we were putting on Argentina was not right. We changed that. This is one for the record books but let’s try to stay humble.’

Lionel Scaloni, once of West Ham and now in charge of Argentina, was notably — and understandably — deflated. He said: ‘We respected them. It was quite the contrary that we did not respect them. They are a good team and we need to win our next two games. We have to bounce back.’