FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: Saudi Arabia shock Argentina, Ronaldo to leave Man Utd

Gulf News

A bold and brilliant Saudi Arabia pulled off one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history as they came from behind to stun two-time winners Argentina in a fantastic Group C opener in Lusail. Ranked 51st in the world, Saudi Arabia could have been done and dusted in the first half as Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Argentina had three goals ruled out for offside. But the Green Falcons flipped the game on its head in a stunning 10-minute period after half-time, Saleh Al Shehri levelling with a low effort and Salem Al Dawsari firing them ahead to spark pandemonium in the stands. Gulf News football experts discuss the match and look ahead to tomorrow’s fixtures and also discuss the future of Cristiano Ronaldo after he has his contract terminated by Man Utd.  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #Qatar #WorldCup

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00:00Hello and welcome to Golf News Kicking Back. There is only one place to start tonight and

00:14that is Denmark nil, Tunisia nil. I'm kidding of course. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. A public

00:21holiday has been announced guys tomorrow in Saudi Arabia after the team pulled off what

00:26is probably the biggest shock in the World Cup. I mean I think it's probably the biggest

00:31shock of all time. They've beaten tournament favourites Argentina 2-1. Now guys look, Saudi

00:38Arabia they're ranked 51st by FIFA. You know no one really took them too seriously. I mean

00:46but they've come out today with a really bold and determined and solid performance and they

00:51dug in. They defended really well and Sharm they deserve that win today didn't they? Absolutely

00:58you are spot-on. I mean if any team deserved to win it was the Saudi Arabia because the way they

01:04initially the 20 minutes they were frazzled although I mean three attempts at the goal

01:10but of course they got away with it. But after that it was just Saudi Arabia all over the place

01:17and they never allowed Argentina back into the match and Argentina was pretty poor. So Saudi

01:24Arabia definitely deserved to win. Nick what's the reason for Argentina being so complacent today? Well I think it's

01:31a story we've spoken about it in around the last couple of days. I think Argentina relying on Messi

01:37too much. So you know when they were struggling the first half it looked quite dominant. Three

01:43disallowed goals for Argentina. The Messi penalty nicely taken by the way. But that penalty

01:51incidentally if it was in the Premier League we'd be having 10 penalties every match. These refs have

01:57kind of changed their tune. But it's Argentina poor but the second half what did the manager

02:06tell us the Saudi manager tell them at halftime? It was a different game. Two quick goals, a team

02:13ethic. It was brilliant and what a winner. So congratulations to Saudi. The only defence for

02:19Argentina is that the other match was a nil-nil. So the group is very much still open with a couple

02:28of matches for each team to play. But you know what's an achievement for Saudi Arabia. Well played.

02:34Just going back to that the penalty incident Sham. I mean it looked really soft. I mean yeah

02:40the Saudi defender. I'm sorry I don't know his name. He wasn't exactly looking at the ball.

02:44But there was hardly any contact there. I mean if we're going to give penalties like this we're

02:49going to be seeing a record number of penalties I think in this tournament. Aren't we Sham?

02:53Yes indeed. I mean if you look at most of the penalties which is given

02:57it's rather dodgy. Okay you have technology there but the thing is

03:04see even the Lewandowski penalty. I mean it didn't look like a penalty. So was this.

03:10So to me it definitely wasn't a penalty. I mean I think there are. So I thought Saudis were hard

03:15done by that decision. They were hard done by but they came stormy back in that second half. It was

03:19a 10-minute spell where Salah Al-Shehry pulled them back level with a lovely left foot cross shot

03:25turned to the bottom corner. And then Salim Al-Dawsiri he fired a superb goal. I mean he

03:31got the ball wriggled free and he bent one into the top corner. There was pandemonium in the stands.

03:36But Nick did you expect that comeback from Saudi Arabia today?

03:40No. You know if you're 51st in the world against number three Argentina you know your place but

03:46maybe it's a lesson to all the lesser teams. Go for it. They're all good strong athletes and maybe

03:55you know it really was the start of the World Cup 2022 today. More teams maybe should go for it.

04:02Saudi have gone for it in the first match. Let's see a couple of 0-0 draws today. Let's see in the

04:08second third match if the weaker teams or the lesser teams not weaker lesser teams lower in

04:15the rankings. If they go for it just shows you what you can do. But Sham look Argentina came

04:22into this game on a 36 game unbeaten run. It included winning the Copa America last year 2021.

04:30They had a friendly match the other day in the UAE against sorry against the UAE in Abu Dhabi.

04:35They cruised through that. But I mean have you ever seen a bigger shock than this in a World Cup

04:41Sham? Can you remember one from the top of your head? No not at all. I mean not in my memory.

04:46Definitely not. There have been shocks in the past but definitely not on this scale.

04:52Because I was quickly going through my notes about what was that. See 1990 Argentina again

04:58lost to Cameroon but still made the final. Brazil lost to Norway but and and you really have to go

05:04back. I was listening to the commentary they say one of those guys was saying USA beating

05:11England way back in 1950 or something. Well in the 50s was perhaps the biggest shock

05:17in their memory. But yeah so to me in my memory definitely this is the biggest.

05:23It's a huge one. Nick Messi he's playing in his fifth World Cup. He says Argentina are going to

05:29bounce back against Mexico on Saturday. And if they don't they're going to be bouncing out of

05:34the tournament. Surely we're going to be seeing a much better performance from Argentina next time

05:38out aren't we? Yeah let's hope for a team performance. Messi was didn't get the support

05:44and the like in his usual style. But you know they have no choice. They'll be they'll be flying home

05:50if they disappoint in their next match. But I don't think you know you can't peak too soon.

05:58You've got to build momentum. It's seven matches to win the World Cup. And let's see there is time

06:04but I think there will be a few sleepless nights for Argentina and their fans. So I don't think

06:11it augurs well for Argentina moving forward. But the no-no draw gives them slight hope from the

06:17other teams. I think if we cast our minds back to 2010 Spain lost their opening game and they we

06:23all know what they've done in that tournament there. So yeah I've got a feeling that they're

06:27going to be okay. But now sadly they're in a very strong position. It could be Argentina and Saudi.

06:32Everybody thought it's going to be Argentina and Poland. Obviously Poland have drawn their first

06:36game today nil-nil. But Saudi credit to them. They're in a very strong position and they'll

06:41be confident of going through. Right the second big news today Cristiano Ronaldo has had his

06:46contract mutually terminated by Man United. It means he starts on Thursday for Portugal against

06:53Ghana unemployed and as a free agent. Nick I mean how crazy is that? Inevitable. I'm just glad for

07:02all parties that there's no more noise and everyone knows where they stand. I think it was very

07:08unfortunate. Ronaldo had his point but I thought it was the wrong approach. But who knows where

07:14he's going to play. I know Wolves and Everton aren't in the mix but I wonder which other

07:19team. So it's obviously I've only just popped up on the screen. Manchester United have

07:26made that move. But let's hope it's not all the news now. Let's stick to the World Cup.

07:33But I don't think it's the last we've heard. Who's interested? Who's not? I don't know. But it was

07:38inevitable to happen. He could never have gone back to them. Let's just move forward with the

07:44World Cup. Shyam look the timing of that interview has been criticized obviously right before the

07:50World Cup. And now this news right before Portugal's going to open their campaign against Ghana.

07:56That isn't going to be the best way to start the preparations for the game is it?

08:01Certainly not. Simply because see you have to be in a good mental space for a

08:06tournament like having the World Cup. We know it is the apex when it comes to the

08:10football World Cup. And you definitely have to be physically and mentally in peak condition.

08:17And you don't want any distraction. Which is why I was surprised when you gave an interview at the

08:22point of time. And now this I thought the timing is very very poor. Very poor indeed. It'll be

08:29interesting to see how they get on on Thursday. But before Thursday we've got to have a quick look

08:33at tomorrow's games. The big one tomorrow Germany's playing against Japan. Hansi Flick's in charge of

08:37Germany these days. They've got Kai Havertz up front. They haven't got Timo Werner. He's injured.

08:42Thomas Muller's still playing. But they've got an important player in midfield Kimmich. If he plays

08:47well I think Germany should do well Shyam. You can't write off the Germans obviously. How do you

08:50think they'll get on tomorrow against Japan? It may not be easy but Germany will win.

08:57Because see I never write off Germany at any… Whether it's a Euro or whether it's a World Cup.

09:03They are masters at tournament play. The bigger the occasion, the bigger their temperament.

09:10Or they come to the party as they say. So I mean they may not win handsomely but they

09:16might eke out wins and just do just enough to win. And they have won tournaments like that

09:22several times. And even the World Cup in the past. So I would never write them off. So

09:27they might be a narrow win. Maybe like a 2-1 or 2-0 win against Japan. But still they will win

09:33and they will go through. Nick, they're a young team. What do you make of the chances tomorrow?

09:38Do you think… I mean we all expect Germany to get out of the group obviously. But in the last

09:43World Cup they didn't make it past the round of 16 I believe. So how do you think they'll get on

09:47tomorrow? Well they're Group E. The group of death. There's always a group of death there.

09:53And Japan are stronger than we probably acknowledge. So who knows. As today has

10:03proved the World Cup can have any shocks. And if Japan beat Germany it wouldn't be the shock that

10:08we had today. So let's hope for a good match. And group of death. I love that phrase. So

10:15there always has to be one. And Group E this year. So Germany 11 in the world rankings.

10:21Those don't lie. When do we last see Germany outside the top 10 in the FIFA world rankings?

10:29It's been a long time. It's been a very long time. The other game in Group E is Spain against

10:33Costa Rica. I think that's going to be a really wide open attacking game of football. Could be

10:37seeing a lot of goals there. I'm looking forward to seeing the young boys from Spain. Pedri and

10:40Gabi in particular. One's 18. One's 19. Torres as well. He's only 22. So there's a very young

10:46core there for Enrique's side. Nick, how do you think Spain, Costa Rica is going to go tomorrow?

10:52Spain, obviously, you can't deny their favouritism and their standing. But Costa

10:58Rica, they have a history of upsets. But I'll go with Spain. And in Group F, Sean,

11:06there's Morocco against Croatia. Modric, obviously, is going to be heavily involved

11:09in everything that Croatia do. But the other big game is Belgium against Canada. Now we all know

11:15about Belgium. They've had that golden generation tag on them for a long time. They've got a very

11:19good squad. People like De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku, managed by Martinez, who I think is,

11:25you know, probably, this could be his last tournament with Belgium. If he doesn't get

11:29the team to at least the final, I think he'll be walking away. I think, obviously, they'll beat

11:34Canada. I don't remember Canada being in the World Cup, to be honest. Must be the first time.

11:40Sharm, how do you think Belgium will get on tomorrow against Canada?

11:44You said the answer yourself. Canada, for me, was a huge, huge surprise.

11:51Which is why I don't even think that Canada has any chance tomorrow.

11:57Belgium, of course, should cruise past them. But their prospects in the tournament,

12:04like you said, I don't think they will. You're even saying final. I'm not even saying that.

12:09So, it's going to be a very tough journey for them in this World Cup.

12:15All right. We'll see how they all get on tomorrow. We'll be back. That's enough for us for tonight.

12:19In the meantime, head to gulfnews.com and check us out on all our social media channels.

12:24Well done to Saudi Arabia again, and goodbye to Ronaldo. Good night, guys.

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