Jumping for joyImage: Getty Images
Most American football fans went to bed Monday night to skip Tuesday’s opening game. It’s better to get some sleep than see a blowout when Argentina will be in the tournament for a while, right? Saudi Arabia went into the opening game of Group C as underdogs of +1800 (according to BetMGM odds) to win, handing Lionel Messi a goal in the 10th minute. Exactly where the Saudis want to be.
In one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, Saudi Arabia scored twice early in the second half to defeat Argentina, daunting the South American giants’ chances of advancing to the knockout stages, let alone that win whole damn tournament.
“It’s a very hard blow for everyone, we didn’t expect to start like this,” Messi said after the game. “Things happen for a reason. We have to prepare for what’s coming, we have to win and that’s up to us.
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“There are no excuses. We will be more united than ever. This group is strong and we showed it. It’s a situation we haven’t seen in a long time. Now we have to show that this is a real group.”
In a group that was completed by Mexico and Poland, Argentina’s road to Messi’s first world title became that much more difficult in what may be his last chance. Saudi Arabia was written off as a Group C punching bag while Argentina advanced slightly alongside someone else. This script is over. It will take a huge push for Messi and his friends to make it into the last 16 now.
Several Argentina goals were taken off the board by VAR, with each of those recalls coming inches from standing. That’s why the world’s biggest tournament has help from video officials to get the calls right. And with those right decisions, Argentina are on the wrong side of one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.
“We have to get up,” said Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni after the defeat. “Today is a sad day but we have to keep our heads up and move on. We’re injured but we need to turn things around and win our next few games.
“We continue to believe in the same as before. The World Cup has that, you can be infinitely superior and it doesn’t go the way you want.
“Fortunately we have two group games and we will make it.”
