Saudi Arabia people are enjoying a public holiday on Wednesday. This is after their historic and amazing 2-1 win over favourites Argentina on Tuesday at the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.
The Green Falcon’s win over Lionel Messi’s side is among the biggest shock results in the history of the tournament.
Celebrations were wild and uncontrollable in Lusail, Qatar where the match took place – but it was even frenzied and hysterical in Saudi Arabia. Immediately after the match, King Salman declared Wednesday a public holiday for the Saudi Arabia citizens.
“This is football. Sometimes things are completely crazy,” Saudi Arabia coach Hervé Renard said. “All the stars aligned for us,” added Renard, who won the African Cup of Nations as coach of Zambia in 2012 and then repeated the feat with Ivory Coast in 2015.
According to The Guardian, the public holiday will be for all state employees “and the private sector, and male and female students in all educational stages”, the government announced on Tuesday evening.
The national football side’s remarkable victory was being seen as both a triumph on the pitch and a huge moment on the global sports stage, where the regional power has long sought a place in the spotlight.
Outsiders against an Argentine team on a 36-match winning streak surely delivered that and, on Tuesday afternoon and evening, it was all that mattered to Saudi leaders and the fans who circled public squares in convoys of cars, waving the country’s green flag and proclaiming a new era of international football.
Euphoria reached the inner circle of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was pictured embracing his brothers after the full-time whistle, as well as sports cafes and public parks across the country. Universities were given the afternoon off for students to watch the game. City streets were almost abandoned. Women joined men in many cafes and restaurants – a new phenomenon in the desert kingdom – to take in the most unlikely of victories.
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