In the soccer World Cup, gold candidate Argentina is now under pressure after a sensational 1-2 defeat against Saudi Arabia in the first. If Argentina don’t win the two remaining matches, the team is in a big risk of missing out on promotion.
The first big bang of the WC it came in the fifth match of the tournament. Argentina entered the game as heavy favorites and before kick-off, Saudi Arabia was offered a whopping 35 times the money by many betting companies.
Argentina started brightly and took a 1-0 lead in the tenth minute when Lionel Messi converted a penalty. The 1-0 half-time lead could have been bigger as three Argentine goals were disallowed for offside.
– It was down to the millimeters, said Argentina captain Lionel Scaloni after the match against AFP.
– Saudi Arabia played to a high line and we knew the margins could be small. But that’s how it works and we have to congratulate the opponent.
Yle pundit Erkka Lehtola says the slim first-half lead was a major contributor to Saudi Arabia’s liveliness in the second half.
– If you lead by just one goal at half-time, your opponents always have a chance to come back, says Lehtola.
– Someone says it’s abstract nonsense that goals change games. But things happen in the head when Saudi Arabia scores their first goal.
The other Yle pundit, Jarkko Wiss, credits the green jerseys for the effort in terms of play.
– Saudi Arabia was not satisfied with being in its own penalty area like Qatar and Iran, says Wiss.
The group is a wasp nest
Ultimately, the pre-favourite had a hard time getting strong equalizer strength.
– Argentina came back and tightened its grip. But most likely they created scoring chances from high crosses from the edge, that was almost all. The low, hard posts were conspicuous by their absence, Lehtola says.
Now group C, which also includes Mexico and Poland, will become a wasps’ nest. To advance, four points are probably a minimum requirement for Argentina. Argentina will face Mexico on Saturday and Poland in the group stage final on Wednesday in a week’s time.
– Now we have to try to win two games to progress, says coach Scaloni.
– We played well in the first half, but two situations changed the match. We should have done better and are allowed to return.
“We fell in love with our own mistakes”
In connection with the defeat, a 36-game unbeaten run for Argentina was ended. Star Lionel Messi is thoughtful.
– This team has never been in a situation like this. We didn’t expect the tournament to start like this.
– The opponent didn’t surprise us, we knew what they are capable of. People have to trust that this team will not bow down and that we will give the iron in the next two games, Messi told Argentine media according to Reuters.
Fellow striker Lautaro Martinez thinks the team can see themselves in the mirror.
– This really hurts. We fell for our own mistakes, especially in the second half. Details matter and we need to sort them out, Martinez told Reuters.
