Hervé Renard, the mastermind behind Saudi Arabia’s stunning 2-1 upset over Argentina, says that the “stars in the sky were in the same line for us” as they pulled off one of the greatest World Cup upsets ever.
Argentina took the lead early in the first half through a Lionel Messi penalty, and then had three goals disallowed for offside before half-time as Saudi Arabia bravely played with an incredibly high line.
Embed from Getty ImagesSoon after the second half started, Saleh Al Shehri and Salem Al Dawsari scored twice in rapid succession to give the underdogs the lead.
Argentina continued to pile on the pressure but Renard’s men refused to break, anchored by a man of the match performance from goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais, as the Saudi team held out for a famous win.
Renard was quick to credit the self-belief of his team and the lack of motivation for Argentina for his sides victory.
Embed from Getty Images“Coming to the world cup you need to believe in yourself.
“Everything can happen in football, sometimes your opponent is not at their best motivation.
“This is normal, it’s also happened to us sometimes when we are playing a lower team.
“This is what people don’t understand, if you imagine Lionel Messi to play against Saudi Arabia of course he would say ‘yes, we need to start very well’, but the motivation is not like if you’re playing Brazil.
Embed from Getty Images“This is normal, this is part of football.
“We made history for football, it will stay forever, this is the most important, but we also need to think about looking forward because we still have 2 games that will be very difficult for us.”
