The biggest upset of the World Cup has just taken place, and it’s throwing the entire world into a sense of incredulity. Particularly in the west where many people did not wake up in the middle of the night to watch the game. If you’re one of those people that did not wake up to watch the game we’ll try and help you make sense of what just happened!
Saudi Arabia took down Argentina 2-1 in both teams’ opening game of the tournament. How did this happen?
Argentina Dominated The First Half, But Couldn’t Extend Their Lead
Argentina found the back of the net 4 times in the first half of the game! However, 3 of the goals were called back for offside. The sense though was that Argentina was going to be able to beat that high press at some point. One of the goals that was called back was extremely close. Similar even to what we saw from Ecuador in the first game of the World Cup with that controversial first goal.
Speaking of controversy, VAR called the ref in to check a potential penalty after an Argentina corner kick. As we saw in the England versus Iran game there was enough contact on the play for the ref to call a penalty kick. Messi would go to the spot and convert the first goal of the match. At this point it seemed that it was a matter of time before we saw Argentina score more goals. The first half ended 1-0, and the second half would be a completely different story.
LIONEL MESSI HAS ARRIVED! 🇦🇷🙌
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 22, 2022
Argentina's number 10 gets his first goal of World Cup 2022 from the penalty spot inside 10 minutes!!#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/eUxnno9m7v
It Was A 10-Minute Span That Saudi Arabia Took Advantage Of
When the second half started it became clear rather quickly that something was off with Argentina’s back line. They made some pretty amateur mistakes letting balls bounce on them and cutting long balls with headers back to the middle of the field. It didn’t take long for Saudi Arabia to take advantage of the shaky Argentina defense and put one of their strikers in front of Dibu Martinez. Ultimately Martinez stretched as far as he could go, but the ball still went in right next to the left post.
That Saudi Arabia goal threw things into even deeper chaos. Saudi Arabia grew in confidence and started to escalate their already high pressure. That combined with an Argentina defense who still seemed to have lost all sense of what it means to defend quickly led to the second goal of the match. This one was an amazing strike by Saudi Arabia’s number 10 that found the top corner.
From there Argentina tried to adjust, and with the departure of Cuti Romero Scaloni was able to strengthen his back line. Unfortunately for him the damage was done, and the team was not going to recover. Argentina was able to regain control of the game for the last 20 to 25 minutes with Saudi Arabia deliberately dropping back to defend closer to their own goal. The Saudi Arabia goalkeeper was able to contain a couple of Argentina headers, and help his team hold on to win!
Two goals for Saudi Arabia clearly showing that Argentina wont go anywhere if they continue benching lisandro Martinez pic.twitter.com/t2FRcicvzG
— J.o.s.h♥️⚽ (@JosephGrace256) November 22, 2022
Messi’s Dealing With Some Physical Issues
This is not a loss that can be pinned on Messi. His goal in offside was off by inches, and actually Lautaro Martinez twice fell offside on perfect through balls put in by Messi which would’ve extended Argentina’s lead. The bad news for Argentina who need to regroup to face Mexico on Saturday is that Messi does not look well. In the second half he had his hands on his knees, and quite a few times he seemed to be in pain throughout the match. That’s potentially the most concerning issue for Argentina heading into the second game.
