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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2022 — 39
Argentina 1-2 Saudi Arabia:
Saudis produce one of World
Cup’s biggest ever shocks
•Beat Messi’s star-studded side who had an unbeaten run of 36 matches
The little man they
had all come to see
took just 10 minutes
to give them what they
wanted. A little stuttering
run-up, a nudge of his left
foot and the first page of a
potential Christmas
fairytale had been written.
Or so we thought. That’s
the thing about fairytales.
They are so called because
they rarely come true and
two hours after Lionel
Messi had converted a
penalty, he was stood near
the halfway line, hands on
his hips, barely able to
comprehend what had
happened.
And what had happened
was a result that will be
recalled and referenced in
decades to come, how Saudi
Arabia and their
journeymen took down the
squad that many believe are
destined to contest the final
in this very arena – the
magnificent Lusail
Stadium – on December 18.
For context, Argentina 1
Saudi Arabia 2 will now get
mentioned alongside
United States 1 England 0
(1950), Spain 0 Northern
Ireland 1 (1982) and
France 0 Senegal 1 (2002)
for scorelines that left you
open-mouthed in disbelief.
What a magnificent
spectacle this was, played
out to a soundtrack of earsplitting
noise and Arabian
fervour.
TODAY’S PUZZLE
The atmosphere,
especially in the chaotic
second period, was
gloriously partisan and the
sense of occasion – and
history – was not lost on
anyone.
Argentina had arrived
here as heavy odds-on
favourites to extend an
unbeaten run of 36 matches,
a sequence that began in
November 2019 and had
seen them win in a Copa
America and inaugural
Finalissima in the
intervening years, and all
seemed as if it would go to
plan.
It looked easy for them in
those opening 10 minutes,
Sudoku
with Messi having his first
shot after less than 100
seconds (he should have
scored) and converting
from the penalty spot when
VAR deemed that Leandro
Paredes had been wrestled
to the floor. A penny for
Harry Maguire’s thoughts
on that one.
Saudi Arabia had no
inclination to attack and
didn’t threaten to have a
shot on target during the
first half; the sole intention
of head coach Herve
Renard was to try and
frustrate Argentina by
playing a high-risk, high
line defence to catch their
vaunted opponents offside.
Tunisia hold Denmark to first goalless
draw of World Cup
Denmark were held to
a draw by Tunisia in
their World Cup opener in
a raucous atmosphere at
the Education City
Stadium in Al Rayyan.
Despite fielding many
Premier League regulars,
the much-fancied Danes
were given a tough
workout in Group D.
Both sides had goals
ruled out for offside, while
Denmark’s Andreas
Cornelius somehow
missed from a yard.
There was 95th-minute
drama when referee Cesar
Ramos checked the
pitchside monitor over a
potential Denmark
penalty for handball, only
to stick with his original
decision.
YESTERDAY’S ANSWER
With the help of VAR and
some fractionally mistimed
runs, it worked as Messi and
Lautaro Martinez (twice)
had goals disallowed by the
most slender of margins.
The way the game flowed, it
seemed inevitable that
Argentina would spring the
trap once and get the buffer
they needed.
What followed in the
second half was quite
extraordinary. The Saudi
fans created a tempest,
roaring on their team and
interspersing it all with
chants of ‘Ole, Ole, Ole,
Ole!’ – it all proved to be
quite inspirational.
Argentina had 3 goals ruled out
in first-half of Saudi Arabia clash
ARGENTINA should
have been out of sight
by half-time in their opening
World Cup game against
Saudia Arabia.
But Lionel Messi and Co
went into the break just 1-0 up
after having THREE goals
disallowed for offside.
Messi himself opened the
scoring from the penalty spot
with 10 minutes on the clock.
Although finding the back
of the net from open play
proved to be too much for
Belgium to cover
‘love’ tag on shirts
Belgium have decided
to cover the word
‘love’ on the inside of their
away shirts after FIFA
demanded it be removed.
The Belgian FA (RBFA)
Argentina as they were
haunted by the offside flag.
Messi, playing in his last
World Cup, thought he had a
second when coolly slotting
home past Saudi keeper
Mohammed Alowais.
But he was denied a second
of the tournament by the offside
flag.
The flag then didn’t go up
when Lautaro Martinez scored
with a cheeky chip... but VAR
did then rule it out by a matter
of inches.
took the decision and has
communicated the plans
to world football’s
governing body.
Roberto Martinez’s side
will play in their red home
shirt — which doesn’t
feature the tag — for their
three group stage
matches. They plan to
cover the word ‘love’ with
a sticker in the event of
having to use their away
jersey.
The away shirt was part
of a Belgium collaboration
with dance music festival
Tomorrowland
announced in June and
featured ‘love’ on the
inside collar of the shirt.
QUICK CROSSWORD
TODAY’S CROSSWORD
YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION
How to Play Sudoku
Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two
of the same number).
Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine
lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block
(nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means
that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.
No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or
multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.
ACROSS
1 Link (10)
7 Exonerate (7)
8 Unwanted e-mail (4)
10 Cain's brother (4)
11 Member of the family (8)
13 Cake-burning king (6)
15 Large wasp (6)
17 Mixed (8)
18 Pal (4)
21 River of Egypt (4)
22 Copy (7)
23 Comprehend (10)
DOWN
1 Hereditary class in India (5)
2 Invalid, not binding (4)
3 Made level (6)
4 One who makes a will (8)
5 Formal speech (7)
6 Boat with two hulls (9)
9 Autumn month (9)
12 Bring back (8)
14 Mode (7)
16 Dangers (6)
19 Listened to (5)
20 Capital of Peru (4)