The victory of Saudi Arabia against Argentina in the World Cup was thus far the biggest upset of the tournament. Lionel Scaloni’s men went into the match on an unbeaten streak of 36 games and went ahead thanks to a penalty from Messi, but after the break, and after a much-noted half-time talk by coach Hervé Renard, the Saudis managed to turn the game around and record a famous victory that delighted Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s crown prince and one of the richest people in the world.
So much so that they are going to receive a spectacular gift from the delighted Crown Prince. The 37-year-old from Jeddah is closely following Saudi Arabia’s participation in the World Cup in Qatar and personally congratulated the team members for winning their debut against all the odds, but he is so delighted that he has gone one step further and presented his beloved footballers with a gift valued at almost 500,000 dollars.
The Crown Prince, according to CNN, has decided to give a Rolls-Royce Phantom, the basic model of which costs around $460,000, to each of the players who beat Argentina as a thank you for their performance and as a motivational tool for the next match against Poland, which unfortunately, Saudi Arabia went on to lose 2-0.
MBS, as he likes to style himself, is a fervent fan of the game and last Wednesday declared a national holiday for “the victory of the Saudi National Team against the Argentine National Team in the World Cup.”
While a Rolls-Royce might be a stunning gift for winning one match, admittedly one against Argentina, the mind can only boggle at what the Saudi Arabian players might be given if they qualify for the later stages of the World Cup or even go on to win it.
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