We all knew the number 10 was going to deliver a magical moment of utter genius, didn’t we?
His first touch wasn’t a great one, a right-foot take-down sending him away from goal. But then he shook off a challenger, turned on the ball to lose another and jinked to the right to outfox a third. That bought him just enough space ahead of a desperate sliding tackle to fire a delicious shot across the goalkeeper and into the far corner.
It was exactly what we’d expected to see when we sat down to watch Argentina on Tuesday. The twist? The goalscorer was not Lionel Messi, it was Salem Al-Dawsari, and he’d handed Saudi Arabia a 2-1 win against the mighty Albiceleste.
READ MORE:
- Why has there been so much added time?
- World Cup Today: Tuesday's other matches
- Betfred's group match markets*
This was no fluke. Argentina had had 65 per cent of the first-half possession in the World Cup Group C opener in Lusail but were only able to convert their supremacy into anything beyond a single debatable penalty netted by Messi in the 10th minute.
On three other occasions they had the ball in the net only to be pulled back for offside, and while one was a particularly egregious misuse of the technology to cancel out a Lautaro Martinez strike for what was little more than a piece of cotton out of place, the Argentines' inability to time their runs and attack with tempo and intelligence was to come back to bite them.
And when the Green Falcons came out for the start of the second half with a 10-minute showing of verve and belief the like of which Argentina had failed to deliver in the first, they got exactly what they deserved in the form of two goals which shook the World Cup.
@SaudiNT_EN have gone 2-1 up against one of the competition favourites Argentina with this belter!! 🚀
#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup
First up Saleh Al-Shehri fired beyond Emiliano Martinez after having the bravery to run at Cristian Romero, who was slow to react and ended up being turned easily. Five minutes later, Al-Dawsari’s moment of brilliance turned the form books, the tournament and the football world upside down.
This is an Argentina team which had not lost in its previous 36 matches. Their task was to beat the nation ranked 51st in the world in order to equal Italy’s all-time international record of 37, set between 2018 and 2021.
But Lionel Scaloni’s players simply didn’t have it in them to pick up the pace when it was needed, neither in the first half when they could have put the contest to bed nor after the break when they were left chasing the game.
It turns out a side with four starters aged 34 or older – the first such line-up in World Cup history – can appear sluggish on occasion. Where intricate passes were needed, there were quick-thinking Saudi defenders outsmarting opponents who were too often slow to react. Whenever Argentina got forward, green shirts blocked their path. Saudi Arabia were extremely well set up by coach Herve Renard, and neither Scaloni nor his players had an answer. Even 13 minutes of added time in a tournament which threatens to be easily the longest in tournament history couldn't save Argentina, with Messi having one effort cleared off the line.
This goes down as one of the biggest shocks the World Cup has ever seen, but the Saudis deserved every last bit of it.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
