Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2 – 1 Argentina
Saleh Alshehri: 48 minutes Lionel Messi: 10 minutes (P)
Salem Aldawsari: 53 minutes
The Biggest Upset in World Cup History!
There is no denying the fact that Argentina has some of the world’s best individual players in their team. I would like you to pay attention to the ‘individual player’ remark.
Angel Di Maria, Paulo Dybala, Julian Alvarez, Lautoro Martinez, and above all Lionel Messi are amazing footballers. They represent some of the biggest clubs in the world and enjoy a fan following unlike anything you would have ever seen in the world.
However, football pundits for a very long time have called out Argentina for not being able to play like a ‘team’. Football is a team sport, and while individual brilliance can shine at some moments, sticking it out for ninety whole minutes (and some more) requires a team effort.
Messi puts Argentina in front with a penalty at the 10-minute mark
The 2018 World Cup runners up were not able to get their basics right in their first match against Saudi Arabia. Lionel Messi, in contention for the greatest ever that has played the game, scored the opening goal from the Penalty Spot. Once Argentina had the opener, it looked like it would be business as usual just like the England and Iran encounter last evening.
The Albicelestes could not add another goal to their tally, albeit they ended up spurring a lot of opportunities. The one goal margin looked flimsy as both teams walked into the tunnel at the half-time mark. Herve Renard might have said something amazing to his team as they looked motivated when they stepped out for the 2nd half.
Saudi Arabia Strike at 48 and 53 minutes to lead 2-1 in the match
Immediately, Saudi Arabia had the equalizer thanks to a Saleh Alshehri goal at the 48-minute mark. Just as the Argentinians were able to process this, Salem Aldawsari struck home another goal at 53 minutes. The second goal shocked the stadium and the world-class players that Argentina boasts of. KSA played it right from a tactical standpoint.
Argentina took it up a gear once they fell behind and attacked the Saudi Arabia goal with impunity. However, just as we said in the opening lines of the article, it was more of an individual-show-of-getting-the-goal that was going on, rather than it being a team. Saudi Arabia were able to defend well, and also had some luck going their way.
A special word of mention for the Saudi Arabian goalkeeper, Al-Owais. A lot of credit for the team’s victory should go to the heroics that this brilliant lad was able to pull off against some of the best forwards in the game. In front of the Saudi goal, Al-Owais had been able to create a fortress the likes of which even a 7-time Ballon d’Or winner was not able to breach.
Victory for Saudi Arabia
When we think of upsets, a lot of them come to mind. Winners France getting beat by Senegal in the opening match of the 2002 edition is one. South Korea beating Italy in 2002 is another one. However, Saudi Arabia beating Argentina in their opening fixture is probably going to go down as one of the biggest upsets of all time.
Take nothing away from the performance that the Saudi players put in. They sweated it out for nearly 110 minutes. Yes, extra time was around 13 minutes! They played with amazing grit and determination and exposed the weaknesses that Argentina was so nicely able to hide behind its star-studded line-up.
This is great for football in general and how it will grow in these parts of the world. That is the future, isn’t it? Saudi Arabia kept it right, basic, and simple. They did not let the Argentinian stars get to them. They played football as it should be played, like a tactical and strategic game. Hats off to the team, players and support staff that worked so hard.
Herve Renard, take a bow…
Why didn’t Argentina plan for the match?
Maybe the Argentinians failed to understand that at the World Cup stage, even an underdog might have your number on a good day. The team lacked any sort of plan as to how they should be going about it. Perhaps they took KSA too lightly. The structure was lacking, as was the team spirit. We could hardly see any plays being engineered by the players.
This is a great wake up call for all the other big teams that are playing in the World Cup. Where England made it look like a walk-in-the-park, Argentina faltered badly. This should make other teams like Brazil, Germany, Portugal, and Spain get back to their drawing boards and plan well against teams that are ranked lower than them. With this being Leo Messi’s last World Cup, it is a shame that he and the entire country had to be at the receiving end of a 51st ranked Saudi Arabia. While the Albicelestes might still be able to make their way to the next sound, an opening defeat does not set the right tone for the tournament.
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