Argentina 1-2 Saudi Arabia
Whether you call it a surprise or a shocking upset or not, it has set the stage for the rest of the World Cup.
Nobody saw this coming at all for the opener for Argentina, as they fell to Saudi Arabia 2-1 at Lusail Stadium on Tuesday.
The loss for Argentina can be considered of one of the major upsets on the big stage of the World Cup and a setback for a prohibitive favorite.
Lionel Messi had a hard time dealing with the opening loss along with the rest of the club afterward, even though he had scored on an early penalty kick.
“The truth? Dead!” said Messi. “It’s a very hard blow because we didn’t expect to start this way. We expected to get the three points that would’ve given us calmness. Things happen for a reason. We have to prepare for what’s coming up/ We have to win, and it depends on us.”
Although, it’s a painful defeat so early on that Messi and Argentina will have to except what has happened.
“There are no excuses,” Messi said. “We’re going to be more united than ever. This group is strong, and we have shown it. It’s 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. We must turn the page and move on. We have to analyze what went wrong. Focus on the positives and turn our attention to the game against Mexico.”
Argentina was ready for the World Cup riding a 36-match match unbeaten run and was trying to match what Italy had in its run if they would’ve beaten Saudi Arabia.
Even Argentina manager Lional Scaloni was disappointed and still trying to understand how they lost that match.
“(Saudi Arabia) scored two goals with only two shots,” Scaloni said. “We have to get up. It’s a sad day today, but we need to have our heads up and continue. We’re hurt but we need to turn things around and win our next games.
“We continue to believe the same way as we did before. The World Cup has this, you can be indefinitely superior, and things don’t go your way. It’s never good to lose. We came into the World Cup in the best possible way, on a good run. We knew that it would eventually end.”
Saudi Arabia got its goals from Saleh Alshehri and Salem Aldawsari early in the second half.
Argentina will have matches left with Mexico Saturday and Poland next Wednesday, in the Group C bracket. Saudi Arabia will play Poland on Saturday and then Mexico next Wednesday.
