I got roped into watching a World Cup match yesterday even though I don't really even care about the event.  Don't get the wrong idea:  I am not trying to tell anyone that soccer / football is stupid, I just don't really enjoy watching it on TV.  I realize it is the most popular sport in the world that most of the earth's population absolutely loves it and that is fine by me.   Nobody can tell me what I am supposed to enjoy though and I simply don't enjoy it.

That being said, with the rumor surrounding the game last night this tale of a massive underdog story was really something to behold and Saudi Arabia held on to defeat championship-hopeful team, Argentina.

<center> 
![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmc2v6DCtBBxqJmP31tcmyBBDLJnEvcBUPgfB2kBkCSD43/image.png)
[src](https://people.com/thmb/18zptSx7fCcrJrPll_YMIF9k9hA=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x278:1001x280)/saudi-arabia-world-cup-112222-2-ae25947eebcf4746a1b209a3470edac3.jpg)</center>

It was a massive upset that likes of which likely wont be seen again in this tournament and the 2nd half was considerably more eventful than the first.  I only stuck around because my friend invited me to go watch it with him and I complied because I have a strange schedule and had the afternoon off work.   Who doesn't enjoy afternoon beers, right?

Well anyway, my friend is a big fan of the sport and was filling me up with information about how this will be Lionel Messi's last World Cup and how there are a lot of pundits out there that believe that Argentina is a likely winner of the entire Cup this year.  I know nothing about that sort of thing but just took his word for it.  I was there for the camaraderie and the beers, not for the sport stats.  

Despite my dislike for watching the sport I did play it extensively in my youth and in college and I understand how the game works.  I can also kind of identify when a team isn't really taking the game all that seriously.  This is what appeared to be the case with Argentina in the first half.

<center> 
![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmNXoyeHQXerBnzwM7dC37rRSWqMwRBrwTAXep918RyWwr/image.png)
[src](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/var-offside-argentina-vs-saudi-777427350.jpg)</center>

I like the new VAR technology and hope it doesn't slow down play all that much but one thing I did notice about the first half was that Argentina was being really lackadaisical on offense as they committed offside after offside.   Some of these instances were carefully timed offside traps but for the most part it just seemed to me to be sloppy play by an offense that wasn't taking their opponents seriously.   The lazy manner in which they would return to midfield after a failed attempt at goal was kind of embarrassing and even though I didn't really have a horse in this game I appreciated the hustle on the part of the Saudis who were probably delighted just to be playing on the same field as the Argentinian all stars.  

<center> 
![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZE7eqt7NRsq9knnBkepVwS14A2DEQVNQV5uSqJTrcLWA/image.png)
[src](https://www.si.com/.image/ar_1:1%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_1200/MTkzOTI4NDQyNjUwMDQ0MDgx/saudi-arabia-goal.jpg)</center>

The rapid two goals that Saudi Arabia scored in the second half were both cracking goals too that had the people in this bar I was in all of a sudden paying attention and cheering for Saudi Arabia to hold off the giants they were up against in this "David vs. Goliath" situation.   

My friend started commenting about how Saudi needs to be very careful because Argentina is known to take dives on a regular basis and are very good and convincing at getting good calls.  Thankfully this didn't happen too much, but it did happen a few times and the Saudi goalkeeper impressed a lot of people including me when he made save after save.  

<center> 
![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmVfxboStCXKqBseTcxMx6KVF33PehuKFgYfpwvS65FbfJ/image.png)
[src](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ptzqS7rxSbYHFZmTRjUNpA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTQyNw--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/sports.ap.org/01d8c2ed16bfedd5a3067504fc3f4634)</center>

Of course there was that terrifying knee to the head of his own teammate that happened late in the 2nd half that only a select few people actually know what it feels like.  They should bring in Ben Askren as a getting kneed in the head expert or something.

<center> 
![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbm1S7t1nLqDZgLNFTZB6yT4gCjiZVbYXXyxhXqv3zwnv/image.png)
[src](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/lMO98PtGuY.sxg3NImcozw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA--/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2022-11/d7b037b0-6a63-11ed-b9d5-8dcb344a2b93)</center>

I don't have any love for Saudi Arabia's team but I do appreciate a good underdog story and this was a big one.  I just took my friend at his word but he told me later that after Argentina went up 1-0 that the live betting odds on a Saudi Arabian victory was paying 30:1.   I don't think there are many people that actually took that bet but imagine if you had!  

All in all I had a great time and there was a crowd of people cheering for a very unlikely victor in that game.   I may actually go an watch a few more games if they are going to be on at decent times of day for us.   I'm very glad I went because I hadn't expected to even be paying attention to the game but from 45 minutes onwards I was glued to the screen just like everyone else that was there.