Saudi Arabia Surprises Argentina at the World Cup
2022-11-23
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina, two to one at the World Cup soccer competition on Tuesday.
2The victory against one of the world's best teams is one of the biggest surprises in the history of the event.
3Argentina played well in the first half, and the team's star, Lionel Messi, scored a goal.
4But early in the second half, Saudi Arabia scored twice, and Argentina was not able to recover.
5Soccer experts say Messi may be the best soccer player ever, but he has never won the World Cup.
6This year's tournament in Qatar is thought to be his last chance.
7When asked about how he felt about the result, Messi said: "The truth? Dead. It's a very hard blow because we did not expect to start in this way."
8Argentina had not lost in 36 games before falling to Saudi Arabia.
9Saudi Arabia, known as the Green Falcons, won its opening game of the World Cup for the first time in six tries.
10Saudi Arabia is ranked 31st of the 32 teams in this year's World Cup.
11Reporters covering the game said the atmosphere was "extraordinary," meaning very unusual.
12Argentina had a large group of fans in the sports center and an equally large number of supporters came from nearby Saudi Arabia.
13Argentina had many scoring opportunities in the first half, but aside from Messi's goal, three others were called back because players were ruled offsides.
14Saudi Arabia did not have a shot on goal in the first half.
15Lionel Scaloni is Argentina's coach. He said that is sometimes how the World Cup goes.
16"Sometimes you can steamroll opponents and, in a couple of plays, you are losing," Scaloni said.
17When the game ended, the Saudi Arabia players yelled, "Where is Messi? We beat him!"
18The last big win by Saudi Arabia came against Belgium in 1994.
19Lautaro Martinez, a member of the Argentinian team, said "this hurts a lot, we were dreaming of starting the World Cup with a win."
20He said Argentina lost because of "our own mistakes, most of all in the second half."
21Speaking of his team's two remaining games against Mexico and Poland, he said, "We are facing two finals now."
22Argentina will likely have to win its next two games to be able to continue in the competition.
23During the game, Messi became the first Argentinian to score in four World Cup tournaments.
24But his goal was not celebrated too much because of the loss.
25The win by Saudi Arabia is seen as one of the most surprising in World Cup history.
26Before Tuesday, soccer experts said the biggest upsets, or surprise wins, in tournament history came when the U.S. defeated England in 1950 and when Cameroon defeated Argentina in 1990.
27Saudi Arabia's Abdulelah Al-Malki said his team was inspired by their French coach, Herve Renard.
28"Renard made us cry with the motivation before the match and stoked us up during halftime," he said.
29"All the stars aligned for us," Renard said.
30"It's one for the history books," he added.
31The last time Argentina lost was in the semi-finals of the Copa America tournament in July 2019.
32They play Mexico on Saturday and Poland on November 30.
33I'm Dan Friedell.
1Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina, two to one at the World Cup soccer competition on Tuesday. The victory against one of the world's best teams is one of the biggest surprises in the history of the event. 2Argentina played well in the first half, and the team's star, Lionel Messi, scored a goal. But early in the second half, Saudi Arabia scored twice, and Argentina was not able to recover. 3Soccer experts say Messi may be the best soccer player ever, but he has never won the World Cup. This year's tournament in Qatar is thought to be his last chance. 4When asked about how he felt about the result, Messi said: "The truth? Dead. It's a very hard blow because we did not expect to start in this way." 5Argentina had not lost in 36 games before falling to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, known as the Green Falcons, won its opening game of the World Cup for the first time in six tries. Saudi Arabia is ranked 31st of the 32 teams in this year's World Cup. 6Reporters covering the game said the atmosphere was "extraordinary," meaning very unusual. Argentina had a large group of fans in the sports center and an equally large number of supporters came from nearby Saudi Arabia. 7Argentina had many scoring opportunities in the first half, but aside from Messi's goal, three others were called back because players were ruled offsides. Saudi Arabia did not have a shot on goal in the first half. 8Lionel Scaloni is Argentina's coach. He said that is sometimes how the World Cup goes. 9"Sometimes you can steamroll opponents and, in a couple of plays, you are losing," Scaloni said. 10When the game ended, the Saudi Arabia players yelled, "Where is Messi? We beat him!" 11The last big win by Saudi Arabia came against Belgium in 1994. 12Lautaro Martinez, a member of the Argentinian team, said "this hurts a lot, we were dreaming of starting the World Cup with a win." He said Argentina lost because of "our own mistakes, most of all in the second half." 13Speaking of his team's two remaining games against Mexico and Poland, he said, "We are facing two finals now." 14Argentina will likely have to win its next two games to be able to continue in the competition. 15During the game, Messi became the first Argentinian to score in four World Cup tournaments. But his goal was not celebrated too much because of the loss. 16The win by Saudi Arabia is seen as one of the most surprising in World Cup history. Before Tuesday, soccer experts said the biggest upsets, or surprise wins, in tournament history came when the U.S. defeated England in 1950 and when Cameroon defeated Argentina in 1990. 17Saudi Arabia's Abdulelah Al-Malki said his team was inspired by their French coach, Herve Renard. 18"Renard made us cry with the motivation before the match and stoked us up during halftime," he said. 19"All the stars aligned for us," Renard said. "It's one for the history books," he added. 20The last time Argentina lost was in the semi-finals of the Copa America tournament in July 2019. They play Mexico on Saturday and Poland on November 30. 21I'm Dan Friedell. 22Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reports by Reuters and the Associated Press. 23_____________________________________________________________ 24Words in This Story 25blow -n. a sudden event that causes disappointment or sadness 26offside -adj. (sports) when a player is in a place on the field where they are not permitted to be and any gain is disqualified 27steamroll -v. to completely defeat someone or something 28inspire -v. to cause people to want to do something or to reach a goal 29motivation -n. a reason to work hard 30stoke -v. to increase the strength of something or add fuel to a fire 31align -v. to have conditions come together that permit something rare to happen 32_____________________________________________________________ 33We want to hear from you. Do you think Argentina will recover from the loss to Saudi Arabia? 34We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 35Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.