Early surprise in Losail, Saudi Arabia beat Argentina 2-1
The Argentine soccer team lost its first match of the World Cup in Qatar against its counterpart from Saudi Arabia. Lionel Messi had put Albiceleste ahead, from a penalty kick. Then came three goals disallowed for offside before the Saudi team equalized and then came from behind with an anthology goal from al-Dawsari.
With the defeat, Argentina complicates its place in Group C, in which it competes with Poland and Mexico, as well as Saudi Arabia.
The Argentine team started the 2022 Qatar World Cup with an unexpected hit, defeated with two goals in five minutes, between 48 and 53, by Saudi Arabia (1-2), who raised the 1-0 against in the 9th minute by Lionel Messi, from a penalty, to star in the first big surprise of the tournament, breaking his rival's streak of 36 international matches without losing and compromising the pass of the Albiceleste.
Suddenly, when the game seemed to be dominated, in a sequence of mistakes, of bad decisions, Argentina entered into a disaster from which it came out badly, tied by Saleh Alshehri, with a cross shot in the 48th minute, and bowed 1-2 by Salem Aldawsari, in minute 53, with a parabola that did not reach Emiliano Martínez's stretch.
Mexico and Poland drew goalless and give Argentina some relief.
Mexico and Poland drew goalless, in a very weak Group C match, which also includes Argentina and Saudi Arabia. With this result, the Argentine team was last, although the 0-0 left a sweet taste, because logically, it depends on itself.
The Aztec team played better, but the European team had a penalty, which Lewandowski missed. Ochoa guessed the predictable shot of the Polish artilleryman. Mexico will be Argentina's next rival, this Saturday, at 4:00 p.m.
Denmark and Tunisia drew goalless in the first match of Group D.
Denmark and Tunisia did not draw differences in the first match corresponding to Group D of the Qatar 2022 World Cup. It was a goalless draw in a hard-fought duel lacking danger in large numbers.
At the beginning of the match, Youssef Msakni warned with a long-distance shot that he finally did not have great danger before a rebound in one of his teammates. Two minutes later, however, Issam Jebali recovered inside the Danish area and unleashed a shot blocked by the defence.
After ten minutes, Mohamed Dräger tried from long distance. A minute later, Youssef Msakni anticipated towards the near post from a corner from the left and combed that ball that went over the goal.
Little by little, Denmark got into the game despite the initial dominance of Tunisia and, with a cross from Joakim Maehle, from the left, the defense almost turned against it in its eagerness to clear that ball.
With two other practically consecutive corner kicks, the Europeans marked the field a little and at 22', after a rejected ball, Joachim Andersen tried from outside the area so that Aymen Dahmen ended up controlling
Going on the counterattack, Jebali received a long ball from the baseline and scored the first goal for the Tunisians after beating Kasper Schmeichel in heads-up, but the action was invalidated due to offside position.
After half an hour of play, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg tried from long distance, but the goalkeeper saved again without problems. At the end of the first half, Tomas Daleney had to leave, replaced by Mikkel Damsgaard after a blow to his left knee.
In any case, little was seen of Denmark with respect to what was shown on previous occasions, the best of the Danish team was seen from the centers sent by Eriksen in contrast to the inside game they showed in their last duels and, the fact that that it was a tight duel, was to the credit of the Tunisian team.
A hard-fought first half ended with only three shots on target between both teams. Denmark contributed two of them and Tunisia completed with a single attempt directed between the three sticks defended by Schmeichel.
With the start of the complement, Denmark had its first clear approach before a cut pass for Damsgaard, who launched a seeker to the center of the area cleared by the goalkeeper. Maehle finished, but was blocked and Skov Olsen sealed the lead. In any case, the action was invalid before Daamsgard's offside receiving.
The Danish national team moved the bench and found a little more clarity than he had in the first half. About 68 ', Christian Eriksen fired a shot at the gates of the area that Ayem Dahem picked up with a great fly to increase his figure in the match. At the ensuing corner, Andreas Christensen headed the ball down and entered Andreas Cornelius shoved the ball over the right side to hit the post.
The duel, despite those two occasions, was leveled again. The low block of the Tunisians and their good action in the withdrawal did not allow the depth of the Danes in the last meters. Jesper Lindstrøm surprised with a long shot from the right sector that provoked a quick reaction from Dahem in the final minutes and contributed to maintain the equality.
Tunisia had a strong defensive commitment as well as a great performance from their goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet against a Denmark that could not find ways to break with that defense despite its rich technical quality within the squad.
France, current world champions, thrashed Australia 4-1
France, the last world champion, began its successful title defense on Tuesday through the categorical victory over Australia, 4-1, on the first date of group D of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
The French national team, who suffered several weight loss due to injury, started at a disadvantage with Craig Goodwin's goal, but reversed the result through Adrien Rabiot, Olivier Giroud (twice) and Kylian Mbappé.
France's next game will be on Saturday the 26th when they face Denmark and on the same day, Australia will try to recover against Tunisia.
France sought to impose conditions from the start with the speed of Mbappé. The Paris Saint Germain star created problems on the left side of the rival defence, although he did not find partners for the final stitch.
The Australian selected reacted in his first attack and was effective. The first goal of the game was born from a pitch to Mathew Leckie, who pulled the cross past for Goodwin's timely appearance. The cry of the "Socceroos" caused surprise at the Al Janoub Stadium in the city of Al Wakrah and could have been greater, minutes later, with Mitchell Duke's shot that passed near the right post.
In the play prior to the goal, France suffered an injury to Lucas Hernández, later replaced by his brother Theo. The Bayern Munich defender strained his right knee, was unable to continue and was thus added to the casualty list along with Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kanté, Paul Pogba, Presnel Kimpembe, Mike Maignan and Christopher Nkunku.
With the passing of the minutes, the physical exhaustion of Australia made possible the French recovery that reached the tie through Rabiot's header and extended the advantage with Giroud. At that moment, those led by Didier Deschamps, champion as a player in France 1998, imposed their category, beyond the absences.
At the end of the first half, Mbappé had the third, facing the goal, and the Australian response came with a header against the post by Jackson Irvine.
The game on the wings complicated Australia, which for the second half suffered the superiority of the selected number four in the FIFA ranking. In this way, France made the win. First with Mbappé's headed goal, after Ousmane Dembelé's cross; and then with another scoring header from Giroud, in the precise assistance of the PSG figure.
With his double, Giroud equaled Thierry Henry with 51 goals among the top scorers in the history of the selected champion in France 1998 and Russia 2018 (in this he did not convert).
"Les Bleus" imposed a hierarchy, but also demonstrated courage, beyond the quality of its rival. The casualties are many, prestigious, and today he suffered one more. He overcame all that to define the match in his favor with ambition and offensive voracity.
Australia, which has not won a World Cup since South Africa 2010, was excited about a surprise result and had its time until France reacted.
The French national team will arrive toned for his commitment against Denmark, which comes from the goalless draw against Tunisia, in the duel that is presented as the most complicated for the current champion and leader of group D.
Source: FIFA.
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