To what extent did Ramon Diaz affect Saudi Arabia’s historic victory over Argentina’s Messi in the Qatar 2022 World Cup?

Ramon Diaz, coach of Al-Hilal, led nine of the eleven starting players for the Saudi national team (Reuters / Ibrahim Al-Omari)

The national team suffered an unexpectedly painful blow in their World Cup debut in Qatar, against a team from Saudi Arabia that had appeared in the previous edition as the weakest opponent in Group C. Lionel Scaloni’s team was unable to take advantage of a good first half. In Lusail, where he was able to quickly take advantage of the penalty kick that he converted Lionel MessiAnd in just five minutes he had it Brace.

The green hawkUnder the guidance of French coach Hervé Renard, they drew “water from the desert” by improving their shot on goal I pulled Martinez and with their synchronized defending to get the Albiceleste forwards out of the game, secured three vital points to dream of qualifying for the last 16 and repeating that performance achieved in the USA in 1994.

Behind this bump at the start of the World Cup presented by the Middle East team, there is a job that the Argentine has done for years in the most winning team in the history of the Saudi League. Ramon Diaz He is a coach Crescent moonthe team that provided the national team with 12 out of 26 called up to Qatar 2022. In addition, 9 footballers who beat Argentina were starters, including Saleh Al-Shehri s Salem Al-DosariGoals authors, goalkeeper figure: Mohammed Al Owais.

The man from La Rioja joined the Saudi national team in 2016 after leading the Paraguay national team. In his first season with Al-Hilal, he was naked He had his first Olympic tour with a phenomenal campaign: 16 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss. In addition, they reached the final of the AFC Champions League, where they lost to Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds.

Saleh Al-Shehri celebrates the first goal for Saudi Arabia against Argentina in the first date of Group C in the Qatar World Cup 2022 (Reuters / Angret Helles)
Saleh Al-Shehri celebrates the first goal for Saudi Arabia against Argentina in the first date of Group C in the Qatar World Cup 2022 (Reuters / Angret Helles)

After stints at Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia), Pyramids (Egypt), Libertad (Paraguay) and Al-Nassr (UAE), Ramon returned to Al-Hilal and once again celebrated the 2021/22 league title with an effective margin of 90%. The Arab First Division competition consists of 16 teams and two rounds in which the bottom three are relegated.

“The Saudi players have a lot of quality and they will complicate things for Argentina. But Argentina has the best player in the world (because of Messi), ”warned the glorious DT with a past of River Plate before the start of the World Cup. The technique that Ramon highlighted was that seen on the field, converting the caliber of two goals and the accuracy of the passes. The defense was online Another defining feature of the Arab approach, Argentina fell into the trap.

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Saudi Arabia was influenced by Argentine technicians. Although Diaz has not yet had the opportunity to lead the national team, his compatriots Jorge Solari (1994) and John Antonio Pizzi (2018) They wore the coach’s uniform and won the World Cup. The Indian And he reached the best performance in the history of the greens in the United States after passing the first round and the Santa Fe man concluded the group stage in Russia by defeating Egypt.

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Amber Cross

"Music buff. Unapologetic problem solver. Organizer. Social media maven. Web nerd. Incurable reader."

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