The Saudi government announces a national holiday as their National football team won a 2-1 FIFA World Cup match over Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
The national football side’s remarkable victory was being seen as both a triumph on the pitch and a huge moment on the global sports stage, where the regional power has long sought a place in the spotlight. The Green Falcons’ 2-1 win over Argentina, one of the world’s top-ranked teams, is among the biggest shock results in the history of the tournament.
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“This is football. Sometimes things are completely crazy,” Saudi Arabia coach Hervé Renard said. “All the stars aligned for us,” added Renard, who won the African Cup of Nations as coach of Zambia in 2012 and then repeated the feat with Ivory Coast in 2015.
In Saudi Arabia, King Salman announced a snap public holiday for workers in the public and private sectors, as well as students in the kingdom, in celebration of the win.
The public holiday will be for all state employees “and the private sector, and male and female students in all educational stages”, the government announced on Tuesday evening.
“We are so happy about the result. It was an exceptional match from our falcons,” said Ghassan Alwan, 42, marketing director at the Saudi ministry of housing. “Our faith in our players was in the right place. We wrote history tonight.”
“Incredible, massive, amazing, fantastic,” added Abdulrahman Abed, a sports editor. “Congratulations to everyone. This means a lot to every Saudi. This will give a huge boost to every Arabic team in the World Cup.”
Remember that Saudi Arabia had only ever won three World Cup matches in its history before pulling off the upset, with second-half goals from Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-DawsarI answering a penalty scored by Lionel Messi in the 10th minute.
Now Saudi Arabia will next face Poland on Saturday and then take on Mexico next Tuesday in Group C.
