UK Edition
We were witnessing one of the greatest shocks in the history of the World Cup finals and watching from the studio at the Lusail stadium, I could see fear in the eyes of the Argentina players as the cameras panned in.
It was there in their play too – good footballers failing to do the basics, coming out second best in challenges. I recognised it because I have seen it before. When the pressure is on and a big game is going against you – unexpectedly – then it is possible to be gripped by a premonition. In other words a vision of what is coming, of what the hours and the days will be like after a defeat like this.
I saw that fear in the England players when they were losing to Iceland at Euro 2016. So many of them were thinking about what defeat would be like, and the verdict that the nation would pass that they failed to live in the moment. It can freeze you. The chance is there to do something about that, but instead of focussing on the present, the mind takes you to a different place.
This was a shock result to get this World Cup started. The tradition of the underdog is part of why we love the World Cup, and this particular group of Saudi players did everything they could to get this result. Beyond that they needed a bit of luck. They got there only because they took risks, and those risks were big.
Saudi played a high line and pressed the spaces where players like Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria and Lautaro Martinez like to do their best work. Saudi worked that system well, with the right distances between the lines of defence and midfield, but that high line was always a big risk. Herve Renard, the Saudi manager, backed his four defenders, who were athletic and quick, to try to compensate with their pace.
It was not as if Argentina could not read it. They worked it out early and you could see Messi drifting out wide and then into the spaces he usually occupies. The early goal for Argentina did not change the Saudi game plan. Even at 1-0 up I noticed something about the Argentinian players. They wanted the game to be over. Ideally they wanted Saudi to roll over and accept their fate. But that never happened.
Instead, Saudi came out for the second half with a great desire, and played to their strengths of athleticism and total commitment. Their energy and enthusiasm were a contrast to Argentina who had switched off. There were great individual performances from the left back Hassan Altambakt, the No 8 Abdulelah Almalki, and the goalkeeper Mohammed Alowais. Then the goals came.
When a team has a big setback like that, you learn a lot about them. Argentina has a lot of fans in the stadium. It was a long time since they had been beaten. Many of us make them favourites. Yet you could see them looking around at each other and hoping one of their team-mates could do something.
For a while Argentina stuck with the plan. They kept getting in behind the Saudi’s high defensive line. But it takes a lot of nerve just to stick with it when everything seems to be going against you. I felt that after that Martinez offside their belief in the plan just disappeared. If they had stuck with it they would have got the equaliser and might just have won it. That’s what fear can do to a team, even one as good as this.
For Messi it was a quiet game – and yet he still scored one and had another disallowed. Whatever happens in this tournament, it will not change his legacy. No one will ever convince me he is not the greatest player ever to have played the game. Tournaments are hard to win –even for the best. If, for instance, Gonzalo Higuain had scored that chance Germany gave him in the 2014 final, I’m sure Messi would have won a World Cup. He’s still got a lot to give to this World Cup.
The problem for my fellow former Hammer Lionel Scaloni, the Argentina manager, is how he now persuades his players to perform without any inhibitions. It is not over for Argentina just because of one bad defeat but it might be difficult for Scaloni to persuade his players to perform with confidence and bravery. I watched them beat Italy in Fifa’s continental play-off, the Finalissima, and I was blown away by how well they played. They need to play like they know they can, but it is never as easy as that.
My take on Keane v Souness
Many of you seem to have enjoyed the great discussion between Roy Keane and Graeme Souness that I witnessed in such close proximity live on ITV. Two great competitors and two blokes I really enjoy working with. I have to say they seem to get on very well and the atmosphere was as good as it always is afterwards. They like each other. I guess it was just two strong opposing opinions. That is why we love this game so much.
I saw Argentina gripped by an all-consuming fear – just like England against Iceland
The tradition of the underdog is part of why we love the World Cup