Digging up Argentina's forgotten taste of defeat.

Argentina remembered defeat feels like again.

It is the third day of the World cup and the excitement keeps rising across the globe. Surprisingly, every matchday seems to be having its drama perfect for the headline of every blog.

Yesterday was about England scoring six goals against Iran despite their poor performance at a competitive level before the World Cup. The victory got people talking about England's preparedness for the World Cup or if they were victorious because they played against an underdog football nation.

Argentina decided to be the country on the lips of football lovers across the world on the third day of the World Cup as they lost their first match against Saudi Arabia despite the Copa America winners hype before the competition began. I wouldn't have believed it if someone had told me that Saudi Arabia would get all three points against the almighty Argentina and I still couldn't figure out how they failed to live up to expectations.

The lowest scoreline predicted by football analysis and punters were all in favor of Argentina to score not less than three goals in that encounter. Just before the World Cup, Argentina trashed the United Arab Emirates 5-0 and we all believed that they were ready for the World Cup.

Before the competition kicked off, scoring goals was the easiest thing to do for Argentina. Every country they faced recently has tasted the Argentine's poison in attack but today, they remembered what defeat feels like again after three years and four months. The last time Argentina suffered a defeat was at the Copa America quarterfinal back in 2019 against Brazil, they have won or drawn every match since then only to disappoint their supporters across the world against a side like Saudi Arabia.

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The Argentina lineup wasn't completely bad, I have seen people blame the lineup but that wasn't really the problem. The Argentina coach indeed had options like Dybala and Alvarez in attack, Martinez and Acuna in defense, and many other players. A lot of people must have felt these players would have made a huge difference if they started the match but we can't be too sure.

The manager had several options, and he could have made changes after the first half even though he wasn't sure what the outcome would be.

Things didn't actually go wrong in the second half, Argentina started their poor performance in the first half but Lionel Messi's goal from the spot kick very early in the match was enough to overlook their blunders and Saudi Arabia not scoring in the first half made it look like the Argentine's were in good shape.

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Saudi Arabia came prepared even though they had a slim chance of victory against the big boys and they fooled almost everyone with their formation. Seeing a 4-4-1-1 formation got me laughing but they came up with a plan and if you noticed that despite playing so many players in midfield and defense, the Saudi Arabia team kept a high line that made Messi and others run into the offside trap all through the match.

Saudi Arabia took their chances in the early minutes of the second half, the goals came in consecutively and they put their lives on the line to protect the three points they grabbed in the 53rd of the match. Saudi Arabia's future in the competition is still unclear, they have the likes of Mexico and Poland to face and it might not be as easy as it was for them against Argentina.

It is just the beginning for Argentina in the competition and they can still redeem their image against Mexico and Poland. As it stands, Argentina must win their other two matches which automatically puts them under pressure playing against a South American rival and another European side hungry for success.

It would be a shame to see them crash out of the competition in the group stages, I wish them success.