In what many are calling one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, the 51st ranked Saudi soccer team has downed world number 3 Argentina 2-1 at Lusail Stadium Tuesday.
Argentina entered the contest as the reigning Copa America champions, and sported a 36 game unbeaten streak. That mark was 1 shy of tying Italy for the longest streak in international soccer history.
Things started out according to plan as Lionel Messi scored only 10 minutes into the match. However despite clearly outplaying the Green Falcons, and maintaining possession to the tune of a 69/31% split, Argentina couldn’t seem to muster any additional offense.
In the second half, the Saudis came out flying as Saleh Al-Shehri slipped a low shot past the Argentinian keeper in the 48th minute, which was quickly followed up by a beautiful strike from Al-Dawsari in the 53rd minute to give the underdogs the lead.
Argentina appeared to be shell shocked by the quick turn of events and struggled to regain their composure for a long stretch thereafter. While they were able to mount some late chances, none found the back of the net, and the upset was complete in short order.
Saudi Arabia entered the tournament as the 2nd lowest ranked team in the field, but managed to capitalize on their only 2 shots on target in the contest.
Following the match Messi told reporters “We expected to get the three points that would have given us calmness…Things happen for a reason. We have to prepare for what is coming, we have to win, and it depends on us.”
“There are no excuses. We are going to be more united than ever. This group is strong, and we have shown it. It is a situation that we haven’t gone through in a long time. Now we have to show that this is a real group.”
“It’s a painful loss but we have to continue to trust ourselves,” he said. “We must turn the page and move on. We have to analyse what went wrong. Focus on the positives and turn our attention to the game against Mexico.”
The last time Argentina lost their opening match of the World Cup was back in 1990 when they ultimately wound up making the finals. However, coming away without points against the weakest team in Group C has certainly put the team behind the 8 ball the rest of the way.
Mexico and Poland are set to clash later Tuesday afternoon in further Group C action.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Кирилл Венедиктов. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.