Saudi Arabia’s shock victory over Argentina has dented hopes of dream Lionel Messi send-off

Those watching in Argentina will be familiar with the chant. They sang those very words when they won the World Cup in Buenos Aires in 1978 and again in Mexico City eight years later as Diego Maradona hoisted the Jules Rimet Trophy above his head after that most romantic of wins over West Germany. But this time it was the Saudi Arabian contingent in the crowd who were reprising the song after watching their team record arguably the biggest shock in World Cup history.

It was not meant to be like this. Lionel Messi was supposed to take centre stage, to prove to the world that he was finally ready to add a World Cup winner’s medal to his vast collection of silverware. Instead, this day belonged to the men in green, on the pitch and in the stands, who provided a noisy soundtrack to the giant-killing.

The day belonged to Salem al-Dawsari and Saleh al-Shehri, the scorers of the two fine goals that ended Lionel Scaloni’s 36-match unbeaten run as Argentina head coach. It belonged to Mohammed al-Owais, the Saudi goalkeeper, who thoroughly deserved his man-of-the-match award after making five saves.

“In the name of God, the holy, the merciful, I’m very happy about this result,” Owais, one of the team’s nine players from Al-Hilal, the Saudi domestic champions, said. “It was thanks to God and thanks to the competency that we have that we won.”

That competency comes because of the work of Herve Renard, the courageous Frenchman who orchestrated Argentina’s most humiliating World Cup defeat from the touchline. “Renard made us cry with motivation before the match and stoked us up during halftime,” Abdulelah al-Malki, the midfielder said.

Renard ordered his team to press, to defend high up the pitch, and, most importantly, to attack. Rather than sit back and try to prevent Argentina from racking up a cricket score, Saudi Arabia played on the front foot and for that, the former Cambridge United manager deserves a huge amount of credit.

Owais delivered the most damning judgment of Argentina’s pitiful effort when he was asked how nerve-racking the final ten minutes had been. “Honestly, I felt that we were good … we had [already] secured our three points,” he said.

Messi scored a controversial penalty to put Argentina ahead, but the captain’s overall performance was deemed so poor by La Nacion, the Argentinian newspaper, that they gave him a 4/10 rating.

After being locked in the dressing room for more than an hour after the match, a sheepish Messi emerged along with the rest of the stunned players from the team ranked No 3 in the world by Fifa.

“Dead,” Messi said, when asked to sum up how he and his teammates felt after losing to a team ranked 48 places below them. “We are hurt and there was a lot of sadness in there.

“We did not expect to start the World Cup like this.”

Messi now faces a battle to keep alive his dream of winning the World Cup on his last appearance in the tournament. Poland and Mexico, their next two opponents, will be no pushovers, and they will certainly take confidence from the fact that Saudi Arabia managed to repel Argentina with a mixture of clinical finishing and a combative performance from their midfield.

Messi could have hushed the thousands of Saudi Arabians in the stands in the second minute had he struck his first, left-footed shot with more power and accuracy.

He only scored because of a lucky break. Leandro Paredes hit the deck after Saud Abdulhamid jostled with him in the box. Few called for a penalty to be given, but VAR Paulus van Boekel asked Slavko Vincic to check his monitor, which the referee did and then pointed to the spot.

Messi paused at the end of his run-up. Owais took the bait and dived to his left, leaving Messi to roll the ball into the other corner. So far so good for Argentina.

Saudi Arabia played a risky game by defending high up the pitch, but the tactic worked as Argentina kept falling into the off-side trap laid for them.

Within the space of 12 first-half minutes, Argentina had three goals disallowed. Messi was caught off-side after he ran on to Alejandro Gomez’s through-ball, and on two occasions Lautaro Martinez beat Owais, only for VAR to intervene. The fact that Martinez’s goal was ruled out because part of his left arm was off-side when he ran on to Rodrigo De Paul’s pass annoyed Argentina greatly.

Any idea that Argentina would suddenly snap into gear in the second half was dispelled in the 53rd minute.

Messi, of all people, lost the ball on the halfway line. Abdulelah al-Malki seized the initiative, moved the ball to Shehri, who gained a yard on Cristian Romero before deftly shooting through the Tottenham Hotspur defender’s legs into the far corner of Emiliano Martinez’s goal. Shehri slid on his knees towards the Saudi fans before kissing the turf.

Dawsari dealt Argentina the killer blow with an early contender for goal of the tournament.

Initially Dawsari fumbled a looping clearance, but he regained control of the ball, and then turned past Angel Di Maria and Nahuel Molina. Once inside the box, he drifted past De Paul and curled the ball into the top corner with a shot that was too powerful for Martinez, the Aston Villa goalkeeper, to palm away.

Owais, Hassan al-Tambakt and Abdulelah al-Amri played their part in heroically repelling Argentina late on as they sought an equaliser that never came.

-The Times

Originally published as Saudi Arabia’s shock victory over Argentina has dented hopes of dream Lionel Messi send-off