Vn88.cx reported: Right after the opening whistle, the French team rushed to attack under the guidance of Kylian Mbappe, who broke through continuously on the left wing. But while the Les Bleus attack had not yet swallowed the Socceroos, their net was shaken after the attack just like in Australian textbooks.
It was the ball on the right wing of goalkeeper Matt Ryan in the 9th minute, Leckie controlled the ball skillfully and then turned in the middle, causing France defender Lucas Hernandez to miss the momentum, lying injured. Leckie took advantage of the opportunity to pass the ball across the wall to Craig Goodwin to cushion the roof with a shot in the direction of Hugo Lloris’s flight.
Vn88.cx sport reported that although not as helpless as Argentina a few hours earlier, the French team responded with an equalizer in the 27th minute. When the ball was broken by the Australian defender after a corner, left-back Theo Hernandez ( substituted for his injured brother Lucas) unexpectedly hit the ball straight into the box and Adrien Rabiot dashed in at just the right time to head it home.
Just 3 minutes later, France took the lead 2-1 after a mistake by the Australian defenders. The yellow shirt players were careless when coordinating with each other in the circle of the green shirt, just a clumsy touch immediately won the ball, Rabiot crossed into the penalty area, where he skillfully passed the ball to Oliver Giroud to cushion the ball. netting from 10 yards.
As noted by a Vn88cx reporter, the first half of the match between Argentina and Saudi Arabia in Group D of the World Cup 2022 was a performance of VAR and semi-automatic offside catch technology. Argentina’s team scored 4 times against Saudi Arabia but only counted one goal.
Lionel Messi and his teammates started the 2022 World Cup journey with a penalty in less than 10 minutes – with the help of VAR. The superstar wearing the number 10 shirt easily fooled the opponent’s goalkeeper with a light shot from 11 meters away.
Argentina played the ball slowly, completely controlling the game after scoring the opener. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia took a risky tactic when it came to the defense. Argentina continuously exploited the space behind the defenders of the Asian team and added 3 more times to hit the opponent’s net.
However, according to Vn88, the referee, VAR and technology continuously saved Saudi Arabia from conceding a goal. In all three situations mentioned above, the Argentine player (Messi once, Lautaro Martinez twice) was penalized for offside. Saudi Arabia was only one goal behind after the first half.
The one-goal difference gave the Asian team a basis to raise their hopes of winning points when entering the second half. Suddenly, Saudi Arabia turned the situation around in just a few minutes after the break. Within 5 minutes from 48 to 53, respectively, Saleh Al Shehri and Salem Al Dawsari scored 2 consecutive goals to help Saudi Arabia lead back to Argentina.
The South American representative used all his strength to attack. Argentina impatiently pushed up the squad, trying to put pressure continuously. However, the defense of Saudi Arabia was very focused and created a solid wall in front of goal. Argentina had a chance, but most of their shots were in an unfavorable position.
There are no more excuses for this defeat,” Lionel Messi told Vn88.cx on the way the club left Lusail Stadium to go to the bus, and returned to Argentina’s hotel accommodation after the defeat to Saudi Arabia. “This is a huge blow to us. Everyone didn’t expect things to turn out this way
“Argentina had an early goal and a few other times the ball was in the net (but were denied by VAR), we thought we would create similar chances. That was our mistake. We still play the same way, and at the same time make mistakes. And when we conceded goals, we were confused, confused, and couldn’t find an effective way to get an equalizer.
La Albiceleste created few situations when facing the goalkeeper, passing the ball at the wrong time. I think we are having a hard time reactivating the football that we still play,” the Argentina captain dissected the defeat, and admitted he had anticipated what Saudi Arabia would bring.