Saudi Arabia's heroes are set to be rewarded with a Rolls Royce each after pulling off one of the all-time World Cup shocks to beat Argentina.
Saudi King Salman declared Wednesday a public holiday to mark the national team's stunning victory 24 hours earlier. Now Herve Renard’s men are to each receive a Rolls Royce Phantom - which can cost up to £480,000 - from Saudi Arabian Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. It comes after footage in France revealed Renard inspired his men by ordering them to stop looking for a selfie with Lionel Messi.
Via a translator, he accused them of showing Argentina too much respect and said: “What are we doing?! What is this pressing…?! If [Lionel] Messi has the ball in the middle of the pitch you stay in front of the defence. You can take your phone and have a picture with him if you want!”
Tuesday’s comeback win - after Lionel Messi had put Argentina in front - left the Saudis top of group C. They now face Poland on Saturday looking for a victory that would put them into the knockout stages.
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni called on his players to honour the memory of Diego Maradona by getting their World Cup back on track against Mexico.
On the two-year anniversary of the death of the nation's footballing hero, Scaloni invoked the spirit of the man who captained his country to success in 1986 as they look to bounce back from their shock defeat to Saudi Arabia.
Anything other than a victory would leave the South Americans' hopes of progressing out of Group C hanging by a thread. "Today is a very sad day for everyone," Scaloni told a press conference.
"Tomorrow we hope to bring some joy for Maradona, who will be looking down at us from the sky. That will be the most important thing for us. Every time we see images of him it is unbelievable that he is not here with us. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a happy day for all of us."
While the 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia, having been ahead, was a major surprise and put Argentina's tournament at risk, Scaloni insists they have put the result behind them. And he is confident his players will produce a response after pledging they will "break their backs" to turn things around.
"Emotionally we had to digest (the result) and, when you have one blow, two blows, what you need to do is bounce back and this group is ready to rise and bounce back," Scaloni added.
"We might receive a blow like on the opening match but we know we need to stick to our guns. We have a style that is non-negotiable.
"We will always break our backs until the last second we are on the pitch so we can reverse this initial situation. That is non-negotiable."
