Saudi Arabia declares public holiday after historic win against Argentina

 

Prince Mohammed was not seen at the match but had been front and centre at the tournament opening on Sunday.

 

According to Reuters one of Prince Mohammed’s brothers, Prince Saud, posted pictures on Instagram showing the crown prince prostrating in thanks to God in a room where his other brother Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz was also present, shown holding a Saudi flag and standing next to a smiling crown prince.

 

It was also a sweet moment for host Qatar, facing intense criticism over human rights in the conservative Muslim country. Qatar’s emir draped the Saudi flag over his shoulders at the match. A Doha skyscraper flashed “Congratulations Greens.”

 

“Wow! I have all the feelings right now. We beat Argentina, one of the great teams!” said Saad from Riyadh who is in Qatar for two weeks and was wearing a green Saudi Falcons scarf.

 

“Our guys played so well – everything went right inside the stadium today. It was amazing.”

 

On his fifth and final quest for the only major trophy to elude him, Messi, 35, scored a 10th minute penalty in a dominant first half display by Argentina during which he and Lautaro Martinez also had a combined three goals disallowed for offside, Reuters reported.

 

But Saudi Arabia, the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament after Ghana, threw caution to the wind at the start of the second half, charging at Argentina in front of a frenzied 88,012 crowd to end their opponents’ 36-game unbeaten run.

 

The entire game was played in an extraordinary atmosphere at the Lusail Stadium, with Argentina’s traditionally massive and raucous following matched by the thousands of Saudis who had come over the border to cheer on their team.