Watch: Salem Aldawsari extraordinarily gives Saudi Arabia lead against Argentina in FIFA World Cup 2022
The intense football action in the FIFA World Cup 2022 continued on Tuesday as Argentina and Saudi Arabia got head-to-head against each other in the first Group C clash. Saudi Arabia came into the match as underdogs against the World no three ranked Argentina who were on a 36-match unbeaten streak. The fans in the jam-packed Lusail stadium were on the edge of their seats as the referee signalled kick-off with the first whistle.
The first half belonged to Argentina as skipper Lionel Messi netted the ball in the 10th minute through a penalty kick. The first half finished with Argentina in the lead of 1-0. However, Saudi Arabia made a great comeback in the 48th minute of the match as Saleh Alshehri opened the account for his team. Salem Aldawsari broke the deadlock with his scintillating Goal in the 53rd minute.
Aldawsari brought the stadium alive as he cut in from the left side of the box and produced a curling effort and put the ball into the right-top corner. Argentina Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez got a fingertip but couldn’t keep it out.
Watch the video here:
https://twitter.com/TmzNaijaMedia/status/1595020083105234945?s=20&t=BhSlNFdQfqvZEv3EjFi6_A
Earlier, Messi got a penalty kick in the 10th minute and took his team in the lead as he waited for the Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohammed Alowais to dive before rolling the ball into the bottom left corner. With his goal, Messi became the second oldest Argentina scorer at the World Cup(35 years 151 days) after Martin Palermo in 2010 vs Greece (36 years, 227 days).
Following their first goal, Argentina scored three more goals in the 22nd minute by Messi, in the 28th minute by Lisandro Martinez and in the 34th minute but they all turned out to be off-side.
Saudi Arabia came rejuvenated in the second half which was evident in their approach on the field. Saleh Alshehri took it upon himself to end Argentina’s lead. He got around Romero in the box before scoring across Martinez and into the bottom right corner. The entire stadium erupted with noise as Saudi Arabia scored their first goal. At the full-time Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina by 2-1 leaving the Argentina fans shocked.
