The roars that echoed around the Lusail Stadium at the final whistle would have been matched across the border in Saudi Arabia, after the kingdom delivered one of the biggest upsets in the World Cup, stunning tournament favourites Argentina 2-1 in their opening Group C game on Tuesday.
After poor showings by two other Asian teams in earlier games hosts Qatar lost 2-0 to Ecuador before Iran were thrashed 6-2 by England few gave the Saudis a chance against the Copa America champions, led by the most talented player of his generation, Lionel Messi.
But two goals in five second-half minutes helped the Saudis post a historic win that will sit alongside South Korea's 2-1 extra-time upset of Italy in 2002 as the continent's most memorable results at the showpiece tournament.
Saudi midfielder Abdulelah AlMalki said they were fired up like never before by their coach Herve Renard, whom he affectionately called "crazy".
"Renard made us cry with the motivation before the match and stoked us up during half-time," he added, referring to their 1-0 deficit at the break.
Much of the pre-game talk was not whether Argentina would win but by how many.
This story is from the November 23, 2022 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the November 23, 2022 edition of The Straits Times.
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