Argentina off to a ‘Messi’ start

by Anmar Goodridge-Boyce

Nobody saw this coming.

The odds were 500 to one and yet what seemed to be the improbable, happened.

Every four years when the FIFA World Cup comes around, we often expect an upset but not one of this magnitude.

The football world woke up this morning to see one of the pre-tournament favourites Argentina start their campaign in Qatar, but at the end of 90 minutes plus added time, fans were left stunned and shocked. In one of the biggest upsets in sports the world has ever seen, Saudi Arabia, ranked 51 in the world came from behind to win 2-1 against a star-studded Argentina team which includes Lionel Messi, arguably one of the greatest players to ever feature in the modern-day game.

 

One can now only wonder what is in store for two-time winners Argentina in their two remaining preliminary matches against Poland and Mexico. This wasn’t supposed to occur, Argentina beaten by Saudi Arabia? No way, who wrote this script?

 

 

Messi, who is most likely playing in his swansong World Cup gave the Argentines a 1-0 lead from the penalty spot in a match where the ball was placed in the back of the nets on three occasions for his team but all were disallowed for off-side.

 

After coming up short in 2014 where he lost to Germany in the final, this is perhaps Messi’s last chance at football’s biggest prize and in the space of six minutes, thanks to brilliant goals from Saleh Al Shehri (48th minute) and Salem Al Dawsari (53rd minute), his potential fairytale ending was off to a nightmare start.

 

Never in one’s wildest dreams, a scoreline like this would have been predicted, but one must not get caught up in the emotions and carried away with such a humbling result. With the quality of players Argentina have in their arsenal, there is no doubt this team could bounce back and go the distance but a defeat like this will definitely break their confidence and team morale.

 

At the sound of the full-time whistle, the scenes were absolutely crazy for Saudi Arabia, their players sunk to the pitch, hugging and praying and those on the bench stormed onto the field while for Argentina, in contrast, the mood was sombre.

 

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has already announced a public holiday on Wednesday in the wake of his team’s win.

 

Nevertheless, this is why the World Cup is the greatest show on earth, it wasn’t the stuff Messi’s dreams were made of on Monday night but this defeat could awake the sleeping giant and inspire the Argentines. I won’t rule them out at all.

In 1990, Argentina lost their first match of the World Cup to Cameroon 1-0 and went all the way to the final.

 

 

With four games on the cards, Denmark and Tunisia served up a 0-0 stalemate and it was a similar score line but entertaining draw between Mexico and Poland. Robert Lewandowski, Poland’s captain and one of the best strikers in the world at the moment, missed the golden opportunity to give his country the lead and perhaps the win when he was saved by Mexico’s goal keeper Guillermo Ochoa from the penalty spot. Lewandowski was brought down in the box and after a VAR check, he was granted a spot kick and when his nation needed him most, he failed to deliver in the process extending his wait for a first World Cup goal.

This result has left the group wide open and Argentina after a calamitous first game will be breathing much better knowing both Mexico and Poland dropped points and squandered the chance to apply serious pressure.

In the final match of the day, the holders France were in sublime form, inflicting a heavy 4-1 defeat on Australia despite key striker Karim Benzema’s absence. Oliver Giroud, the former Arsenal man struck twice while Kylian Mbappe and Adrien Rabiot scored as well as the reigning World Champions sent a statement of intent. Tomorrow should tell another exciting tale.

Anmar’s predictions:

GROUP E Germany 3 – 0  Japan

Spain 2 – 1 Costa Rica

GROUP F Morocco 0 – 2 Croatia

Belgium 2 – 1 Canada