DOHA: The 2022 FIFA World Cup is billed as Lionel Messi's last one and arguably his best shot to win the one trophy missing from his collection. But on Tuesday his ambition to lay hands on the glittering trophy suffered a huge blow as the South American giants crashed to a shocking 2-1 loss at the hand of minnows Saudi Arabia in the Group C opener.
On Tuesday, none of the 88,012 spectators at the Losail stadium, the arena which will host the final on December 18, had the faintest of thoughts of the Asian minnows upstaging their famous rivals when the match kicked off. But in the end, an upset result did happen, with Saudi Arabia walking away with full points thanks to goals from Saleh Al and Salem Al Dawsari.
Saleh Al-Shehri squeezed in a low shot in the 48th minute while Salem Al-Dawsari curled in a scorching strike from the edge of the penalty area in the 53rd minute to leave Argentina and Messi looking utterly shell-shocked.
Although Saudi Arabia conceded an early goal they were not overawed by the situation they continued to play the offside trap to superb effect. But at times they left a lot of space behind leaving them suspect to balls over the top.
The Saudis came into their own and combined to make a few forays into the rival half. They were committing men forward which shaped into an enjoyable contest. One such move down the right allowing Abdulhamid to cross from the right but Damian Martinez dived forward to collect.
At the other end, Messi scored for the second time in the match in the 22nd minute but was pulled offside.
In the second half, Saudi Arabia came back strongly and scored within three minutes after the start. Saleh Al Shehri's left-footed shot from the left side of the box ended in the bottom right corner, giving a finishing touch to a move by Feras Al Brikan.
The Saudi Arabia supporters, who were outnumbered by the blue and white T-shirts in the stadium, suddenly went full blast with their vocal support for their team.
And the players did not let them down with the Middle-East giants scoring a second goal in the 53rd minute with Salem Al Dawsari's right-footed shot from the left side of the box finishing in the top right corner.
Despite plenty of possession after that, Argentina were unable to penetrate Saudi Arabia, who were competing in their sixth World Cup but had never previously won an opening game.
Both teams have Mexico and Poland to come, with Argentina needing an immediate reaction if Messi is to have a realistic chance of matching Diego Maradona's immortality in his homeland by bringing home the World Cup.
The result revived old question marks over Argentina's defence and broke their amazing 36-match undefeated run. That stopped them from matching the previous international record of 37 games unbeaten held by Italy. Agencies
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