Saudi Arabia declares public vacation after beating Argentina

King Salman declared a public vacation in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to mark the nationwide staff’s gorgeous 2-1 upset over Lionel Messi’s Argentina on the 2022 World Cup.

The information is a feather within the cap of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who advisable the royal order, state media mentioned. Prince Mohammed was not seen on the match however had been entrance and centre on the event opening on Sunday.

– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, extra (U.S.)

One among Prince Mohammed’s brothers, Prince Saud, posted footage on Instagram displaying the crown prince prostrating in because of God in a room the place his different brother, Vitality Minister Prince Abdulaziz, was additionally current, proven holding a Saudi flag and standing subsequent to a smiling crown prince.

It was additionally a candy second for host Qatar, dealing with intense criticism over human rights within the conservative Muslim nation. Qatar’s emir draped the Saudi flag over his shoulders on the match. A Doha skyscraper flashed “Congratulations Greens.”

“Wow! I’ve all the sentiments proper now. We beat Argentina, one of many nice groups!” mentioned Saad from Riyadh who’s in Qatar for 2 weeks and was carrying a inexperienced Saudi Falcons scarf.

“Our guys performed so effectively — every part went proper contained in the stadium at present. It was superb.”

On his fifth and last quest for the one main trophy to elude him, Messi, 35, scored a tenth minute penalty in a dominant first half show by Argentina on Tuesday throughout which he and Lautaro Martinez additionally had three targets disallowed for offside.

However Saudi Arabia, the second-lowest ranked staff within the event after Ghana, threw warning to the wind in the beginning of the second half, charging at Argentina’s defence in entrance of a frenzied 88,012 crowd.

“Thank God, the gamers had been as much as it and we wiped them. They had been counting on one participant, we competed as a staff and we wiped them, we’re as much as it. Be careful for Saudi Arabia as a result of when it hits, it hurts,” mentioned Saudi fan Abdelaziz al-Khwatem.

A Saudi tv station confirmed an extended line of vehicles with veiled girls standing of their open sunroofs waving the Saudi flag. Celebrating youngsters gave the victory signal.

The gravity of the victory will ultimately sink in. Saudi Arabia is a staff that had solely ever gained three World Cup matches in its historical past previous to Tuesday’s recreation.

“One for the books,” Saudi Arabia coach Hervé Renard mentioned. “Generally issues are utterly loopy.”

– 2022 World Cup: Schedule, previews and easy methods to watch

Goalkeeper Mohammed Alowais, who made two key saves late within the recreation to protect the win on Tuesday at Lusail Stadium north of Doha, was virtually subdued on the finish, maybe not greedy the magnitude of the upset.

“I’m very pleased about this end result that we’ve been in a position to receive towards this very storied staff,” Alowais mentioned solemnly. “We now have ready ourselves. We had been 100% prepared and hopefully we could have higher outcomes sooner or later. I felt we had been particularly good within the final minutes as a result of we secured our three factors.”

Not simply within the final minutes. Regardless of trailing 1-0 at half-time, Saleh Alshehri and Salem Aldawsari managed to attain a purpose every early within the second half.

Then got here greater than 50 minutes, together with added time on the finish of the match on the referee’s discretion, of holding one of many event favorites at bay.

“All the celebrities aligned for us,” mentioned Renard, who gained the African Cup of Nations as coach of Zambia in 2012 after which once more with Ivory Coast in 2015.

Renard has has additionally coached Angola and Morocco, which he guided to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He took over Saudi Arabia in 2019.

“We made historical past for Saudi soccer,” Renard mentioned. “It’s going to keep eternally. That is a very powerful. However we additionally want to consider wanting ahead as a result of we nonetheless have two video games which are very very troublesome for us.”

Renard mentioned he requested his gamers to restrict the celebration after the sport to twenty minutes.

“That is all,” he mentioned. “However there are nonetheless two video games — or extra.”

They nonetheless should face Poland on Saturday after which tackle Mexico subsequent Tuesday in Group C. Each are in all probability nonetheless favorites towards Saudi Arabia — regardless of the upset.

He additionally prompt one other attainable reality: Messi and Argentina in all probability underestimated Saudi Arabia, which is just No. 51 within the FIFA rating. Argentina is No. 3.

“However you realize the motivation just isn’t like you might be taking part in Brazil,” he added.

Info from Reuters and the Related Press was used on this report.