“It was a moment for us to rise” – Rodrigo De Paul says unexpected FIFA World Cup defeat to Saudi Arabia helped Argentina realise ‘character’

Argentina star Rodrigo De Paul has said that his team's shock loss to Saudi Arabia in their opening game at the 2022 FIFA World Cup helped them realise their character.

The Green Falcons sent shockwaves across the tournament with a 2-1 comeback win over the Albiceleste. Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari netted in the second half to cancel out Lionel Messi's tenth-minute opener from the spot.

However, since then, the two teams have gone in opposite directions. Messi and co. won their next two games to reach the Round of 16 while their Middle Eastern conquerors lost consecutive games to crash out.

De Paul, who has played in all three of Argentina's group games without being substituted, has said that the Saudi loss was a test of the team's character, as they hadn't lost in a long time.

He said (via Roy Nemer):

"Yes, we found ourselves in a situation we were not used to. It had been a while since our last defeat. That is where you see the character. It was a moment for us to rise, to bounce back, to understand that this was an isolated situation."

Argentina came to Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run since their loss to Brazil in the 2019 Copa America semi-finals of the 2019 Copa America. The Albiceleste were on a five-game win streak.

Saudi Arabia, making only their sixth appearance at the World Cup, had the odds completely stacked against them. Nevertheless, they produced a memorable comeback to seal their greatest win in the quadrennial competition.

However, Herve Renard's side were unable to build on their historic victory, losing 2-0 to Poland and 2-1 to Mexico to finish bottom of Group C with three points. Argentina, meanwhile, recovered to beat Mexico 2-0 before seeing off Poland by the same scoreline to top their group.

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Argentina face Australia in last 16

Argentina's reward for winning their group is a Round of 16 encounter with Australia, who have reached the World Cup knockouts for the first time since 2006.

The Albiceleste are the overwhelming favourites, but the Socceroos have proved their credentials by qualifying from a group containing Denmark and defending champions France.

This will be the first meeting between the Albiceleste and Australia since a friendly in September 2007, which the South American giants won 1-0. Lionel Messi is the only survivor from that clash and will look to get on the scoresheet this time.

The two-time champions will take on Australia on Saturday (December 3) at the Ahmad Bin Ali stadium in Al-Rayyan.