2022 World Cup, Argentina Vs Saudi Arabia: Albiceleste Swallows Bitter Pills, Loses 1-2

Argentina Vs Saudi Arabia (Twitter @fifaworldcup)

JAKARTA - Favorites Argentina fared badly when they started their journey at the 2022 World Cup Qatar. Lionel Scaloni's troops were narrowly beaten 1-2 by Saudi Arabia at the Lusail Stadium, Tuesday, November 22 night WIB.

The match went on for ten minutes, and Argentina immediately took the lead through the execution of a Lionel Messi penalty. The referee awarded a penalty after Leandro Paredes was violated in the forbidden box.

The Paris Saint-Germain star again found the net for Saudi Arabia 13 minutes later. Unfortunately, the goal was not approved by the referee because the owner was caught offside.

Five minutes later, the Albicelestes should have added the score through Lautaro Martinez who maximized Papu Gomez's pass. However, the goal was again disallowed for offside following the intervention of the video assistant referee (VAR).

The link-up between these two 🔥🔗#ARG | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/E9BALTj0Eb

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 22, 2022

Messi and his friends continued to attack the defense of Saudi Arabia after that. However, La Pulga's single goal lasted until the referee blew the whistle marking the first-half break.

Three minutes from the dressing room, it was Saudi Arabia's turn to make Argentina gasp. A simple assist from Firas Al Buraikan was completed by Saleh Al Shehri to equalize the score to 1-1.

Only five minutes later, the Tango team's goal shook again. This time it was Salem Al-Dawsari's turn who scored a beautiful long-range goal to bring Saudi Arabia a 2-1 lead over the Albicelestes.

Ten minutes passed, and Argentina had a golden opportunity to identify the score through Nicolas Tagliafico's shot. He found space to shoot inside the box, but Mohammed Al Owais saved the chance.

Al-Dawsari has turned this game on its head! 😳#FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 22, 2022

The threat to Argentina's goal continued in the 70th minute through Lautaro Martinez's header which took advantage of a corner kick. Unfortunately, the effort was not accurate, and still wide above the opponent's goal.

Angel Di Maria also made an effort three minutes after that. However, the Saudi Arabian goalkeeper can read the direction of the ball well so he can anticipate it.

Argentina's repeated attempts to equalize the score continued to fail until the referee blew the long whistle marking the end of the match. This is Argentina's first defeat after not losing in the previous 36 matches.

In addition, this defeat made Argentina concede two goals for the first time after in the previous 23 matches they had never conceded two or more goals.

Lineup:

Argentina (4-2-3-1): Emiliano Martinez; Nicolas Otamendi, Nicolas Tagliafico, Cristian Romero, Nahuel Molina; Leandro Parades, Rodrigo De Paul; Papu Gomez, Lioneo Messi, Angel Di Maria; Lautaro Martinez.

Saudi Arabia (4-1-4-1): Mohammed Al-Owais; Saud Abdulhamid, Hassan Al Tambakti, Ali Al-Boleahi, Yasir Al-Shahrani; Abdullah Al Malki; Salem Al-Dawsari, Mohamed Kanno, Salman Al-Faraj, Firas Al-Buraikan; Saleh Al-Shehri.