“On paper they should beat them” is a phrase that is commonly heard in conversations about football. As people gather around television sets in their homes, as well as in pubs, cafes and bars around the world to watch Argentina play Saudi Arabia in the FIFA World Cup, talks will no doubt have entered a once again.
A team with superstars like Lionel Messi, Ángel Di María and Julián Álvarez “on paper” would surely beat the Saudi lineup of Hattan Bahebri, Saleh Al-Shehri and Riyadh Sharahili.
Apparently not, as the Saudis won 2-1 in the biggest upset of the competition so far.
You don’t need to look for cycling parallels, but if you did you’d probably end up alluding to Biniam Girmay scoring victory in Gent-Wevelgem this year, beating the cobbled classics’ Lionel Messi, Mathieu van der Poel.
That is exactly what Saudi Arabia coach Hervé Renard did when explaining his team’s shock victory to a French media outlet. be in sports (opens in a new tab) in a television interview.
Magnificent interview with Hervé Renard, français selection of the Arab Saoudite 🇸🇦 who compares his victoire face à l’Argentine 🇦🇷 à une classique de cyclisme 🤩Merci @Bat for the information.🎥🎙 Interview @beinsports_FR pic.twitter. com/DT2xrcgQViNovember 27, 2022
Renard said his team’s performance was like that of an unknown classics racer who managed to cross the line before heavyweights Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar.
“We joked about the win with my staff, because we all like cycling,” Renard said. “Against Argentina it was a classic, we were with Van Aert, Van der Poel and Pogacar too, and then they looked at each other, we managed to escape and crossed the line as winners,” he added.
BEATING LIONEL MESSI IS LIKE BEATING MATHIEU VAN DER POEL
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Saudi Arabia overturned a goal deficit from a Messi penalty to win the game 2-1, which the players said afterward was thanks to an inspired chat from Renard’s team at halftime.
The Saudis lost 2-0 to Poland in their next game, leaving them in a difficult position with one group game still to play.
“Now it will be necessary to beat Mexico to qualify,” said Renard. “To draw and count on a victory for Argentina,” he added.
With the recent dominance of the three riders mentioned by Renard, upsets like the one caused by Saudi Arabia are rare in some of the biggest one-day cycling races. When Girmay bested van der Poel at Gent-Wevelgem, history was made as the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert rider became the first black African cyclist to win the Belgian classic.
With his sights set on the upcoming season, Girmay recently said he plans to improve in 2023 at the Tour of Flanders, one of the five most prestigious monuments in the sport.
“I hope to participate in the Tour of Flanders and the Tour de France next year. After my first meeting with the Flemish classics, it is certainly an objective to prepare myself even better for these races”, said Girmay.
“Winning would be a dream come true.”
