Khalid Tawalbeh
DOHA
Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard, while congratulating his team on the historic victory against tournament favourites Argentina on Tuesday, said the win was important considering that it came in their first outing at the FIFA World Qatar 2022.
"They created history through this victory which will remain in the minds for a long time,” he said at a post-match press conference.
Renard said he had reposed full faith in his players during their training. There was also no pressure put on them by the officials before the tournament.
The Frenchman said, "We celebrated for twenty minutes, and this is enough from my personal point of view because we are facing other challenges.”
The coach said: "I really didn’t like the performance in the first half, we were falling back a lot, and we also didn’t put pressure on the opponents, we conceded a goal and there were goals cancelled with the help of VAR but if the Argentines had scored a second goal, they might have finished the match.”
Goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais, who was crowned best player of the match, credited team effort for the win. "I was not the only one who made the precious victory possible. The whole team made great efforts for the three points, which will be a great motivation to continue to perform well and reach the second round.”
Al Owais was all praise for the fighting spirit shown by all the players in the team. He said they believed in their ability to return in the second half and turn the tables.”
Striker Saleh Al Shehri, who scored the equalizer, thanked the Saudi people and the Arab fans for the victory.”
He considered that the three points would be an incentive for the next matches. The Saudi team will deal with each match to secure passage to the second round of the World Cup.
The Saudi striker described the Lusail Stadium as "international masterpiece” and said the 80,000 plus crowd made the victory even greater.