Saudi Arabia produced one of the biggest, if not the biggest upsets in World Cup history as they stunned favourites Argentina 1-2 on Tuesday.
In the match, after his side’s second goal was scored, Saudi player Al-Bulayhi decided to square up to Lionel Messi rather than celebrate with the rest of his team-mates. He had slapped Messi forcefully in the back to get his attention.
After a lot of debates on social media about the interaction between the two players, The Sun quoted Al-Bulayhi, who revealed that he had said, “You will not win, you will not win!” to the Argentine legend.
Monday’s result brought to an end Argentina’s 36 match unbeaten streak since losing the 2019 Copa America semifinal to Brazil.
After Saudi Arabia’s goal to make it 2-1, Ali Al-Bulayhi approached Lionel Messi, slapped him on the back and began repeating: “You won’t win, you won’t win”. It was the 53rd minute. pic.twitter.com/QSRSy2v0dZ
— Malayalam News Desk (@MalayalamDesk) November 23, 2022
Argentina took a first half lead via Lionel Messi, who earlier became the first player to feature in five world cups for the Albicelestes, in the 10th minute after a VAR awarded penalty. Saudi Arabia, the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament after Ghana, charged at Argentina’s defence early in the second half in front of a frenzied 88,012 crowd as Saleh Al-Shehri, who was just too quick for Romero, squeezed in a low shot to equalise in the 48th minute off what was Saudi Arabia’s first shot on target.
The final nail in Argentina’s coffin was put by Salem Al-Dawsari who plucked the ball out of the sky near the left corner of the box, twisting and turning, before bending a shot into the far top corner curler from the edge of the box to complete the Asian side’s comeback.
Argentina will next face Mexico and will be hoping to emulate Spain’s journey in the 2010 World Cup where the eventual champs had lost their first match against Switzerland.
