Lionel Messi named Player of the Match, comments on Argentina win

By
Roy Nemer
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110

Lionel Messi was named as the Player of the Match as he scored for Argentina in their 2-1 win vs. Australia and spoke to the media.

Messi scored the first goal of the match and could have had a few assists as he was named Player of the Match. Speaking to the media after the match, here is what he had to say:

“It was a controlled match. Putting aside the last one (save) by Dibu (Martínez), we didn’t suffer too much.

“It was a very physical match. Very happy for this win and to take another step.”

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110 Comments

  2. Argentina was emaging. Playing with all cylinder specially our midfield and defense. As we know attack is our main weapon. Only worrying thing is the form of Lutaro. His should end the competition by scoring one of his chances. Overall very good match. Completive match always boast confidence. Now 🍊 test.

  3. I’m so happy to see Julian, Enzo and Alexis starting for us now. They’ve made a huge difference since the Saudi game. I still can’t understand how Papu starts and how he even made our WC squad given all the talent at our disposal. I’m sorry but he is not WC material for us, maybe for some weaker countries but definitely not for Argentina and any of the other top NT’s.

  5. I knew before the game that this match should have been easy for Argentina. However, Papu had no reason to start. This was tailor made for dybala to start. Unless he had an unknown injury it was a wrong decision by Scaloni, who I respect immensely.
    This game came too soon and probably that’s why RDP wasn’t at his best yet again. So many times he played ordinary rather than moving the ball forward. This transition has to happen. Next game on, teams won’t give you the breathing space to reset again and again without causing unnecessary danger.
    ADM’s importance for the team was clear right from the beginning. Without him, we can’t progress the ball easily and become too predictable and easy to defend. And that’s why Scaloni should have tried Dybala today. Papu is unfortunately not cut out for this tournament anymore.
    Messi has been godly so far. Only he could score a goal from that tight situation.
    Enzo was solid, confident, reliable – always choosing the right option. He’s massive.
    Mac Allister was very good as well. He, Enzo and RDP have to start.
    Montiel should never be on the field unless we are 3-0 up and 1 minutes remaining.
    I think Scaloni’s subs were on par as both full backs needed more energy. Just that Montiel aint it and Foyth is untested.
    Lautaro’s confidence has taken a beating but he’s still a class act. He can hold the ball and can obviously put the ball at the back of the net. He will come good when needed. Again Scaloni got him in at the right time. Nothing wrong.
    Our defenders were all strong. I don’t agree with Scaloni subbing in Lisandro and making a defensive switch at that time in the game. But boy is he a game changer.
    To be honest, we will need bucket load of luck to go all the way. But the team is doing all the right things mostly and giving us so much to cheer about. Ultimately any knockout tournaments need a lot of luck. So, as long as the team shows character, and the coach uses the right personnel I am happy.

  6. Xavi Simons is 19 year’s old playing for Netherlands..I remember this guy from PSG, he barely plays and was playing mostly for PSG youth teams. Argentina left Alejandro Garnacho in England, the most informed 18 year old in European football right now…This is one of the Biggest blunders I have seen an Argentina selection made for a World Cup. The fact that Mexico wanted Luka Romero to play for them at the World Cup when I don’t even think he of all players was ready for such a tournament..This just shows how a team will do anything to win as long as it gives them an advantage. Garnacho would have been advantageous to Argentina especially in the second half and, or extra time. You guys better pray Argentina doesn’t have to play any extra time because their two best players are 35 and 34.

    The width is making it hard for Argentina to be more creative, everything comes from the center of the pitch. Di Maria staying healthy helps with this but hopefully Scaloni uses Dybala as a wildcard especially when a team like Netherlands probably forget Dybala is even on the Argentina roster. This would be a good tactical move for Scaloni to introduce Dybala against the Netherlands at some point, this would be a smart sub like say in the second half..I’m not the biggest Dybala fan but why isn’t he getting any minutes, is he still injured? Lautaro can’t play against Netherlands. He is lacking confidence, the Saudi game ruining him, he probably took the defeat upon himself because his goal was disallowed.

    Tactically Scaloni will need to introduce players in the attack that haven’t had any minutes yet at the 2022 World Cup; Dybala, Correa etc. I don’t know what Alamda role would be against Netherlands..Papu like Dybala should be a Messi sub, Scaloni is not using him correctly and did not learn from the Saudi Arabia game. The game against Netherland is going to come down to who takes their chances and which team makes the right changes. Dybala can dribble and shoot from in and outside the box, if Scaloni doesn’t give him the opportunity against the Netherlands then something is definitely going on with him and the coaching staff, he scored against Italy so what is the problem now?

      • Xavi Simmons regularly played for PSV Eindhoven this season scoring 8goals in 14 league matches.
        While garnacho hardly started a match.if he had been in the regular list of MANU, definitely he will be in WC

  7. Well, first things first as win is allways a win, no matter what, though i agree that specially at first half despite Messi scored not that many chances were created as instead Arg just looked like confident with the ball, though Australia pressed couple of times hard and Arg did ended up loosing the ball way too easily, but also mostly what i saw was Arg playing it very safe after Messi’s goal as trying not give any chanches to Australia who in the end despite may had their chance, still only had one shot against Arg’s goal as the goal scored was not counted as it took deflection from Enzo who could have actually just let that shot for Dibu to handle, but i so not blame him for trying to block, but not with his hand as he did as it would had ended as penalty for Australia if it was not an goal etc…as i understand in game’s like theese every player obviously will want to block every shot, which is good offcourse as it show’s real fighting character, but also those who are blocking shots must be carefull and know exactly how to block the shot as obviously Enzo was allraedy a bit late for that block and therefore it also hit his hand and got deflected to goal etc.,,also maybe towards the end Enzo may had got a bit tired too as it was only 2 days since the last game, but that offcourse was the same for everyone as only Papu had rested more and i don’t think Papu played badly at all, but obviously there was a reason why Scaloni changed him to Licha who was a great and did good again as at the same time Arg also pretty much changed to back 3, well if it was a tactical decission or more like experiment as i think it might had been as 2-0 up and Australia heavily lacking chances as only shot against Arg goal in whole game says something, but also it is true that it does not give full perspective either, though Arg defended against Australia more than well enough even there were some slight chances for Australia to get perhaps and another goal, but in the end nothing super dangerous, though as we all saw sometimes it does not have be at all super dangerous as luck factor is allways there, wanted or not and this time as Arg won, the luck was also on Arg’s side, though Arg won more than deservedly, but, Still in the end put them selfs somehow in not that comfortable situation as obviously everything changed a much when Australia scored, but Messi was as absolute beast with RDP and also Alvarez again with great performance as nobody played badly at all and Arg or Lautaro should had obviously scored, but right now and specially after couple of those chances he had, well i’m not sure, but i truly hope that he will overcome his draught against Netherlands as Arg need simply more goal scorers and also need to be able to create a bit more, but i’m pretty sure Scaloni will approach Netherlands with similar tactics , though maybe someone else instead of Papu could be his change as i think for others if fit to play he won’t change, but agai st Netherlands he must not use his all subs before the game is on added time and if Arg is leading, then it may broke more the rhythm of Netherlands if they are chasing Arg”s lead, but most propably the game against Netherlands will be the one which could frustrate many, though i hope i’m wrong, but as and QF of WC stakes are obviously huge for both teams and thereforei think Arg will or may have controll of the game, which will be again won by middfield more or less, but i think Arg should play at 3 at the back as either Molina/Montiel and Acuna/Tagliafigo as wingbacks and that is why i think Scaloni decided to TaKe Papu out and changed with Licha coming in to back 3 as Licha will be key in defense against the Dutch having played so many year’s first at Ajax and Still playing under ETH in MANU etc…, though i might be wrong also about this, but that is how i see this change of formation against Australia when leading by 2-0 and the goal Australia scored had nothing to do with the change of formation as it was bad luck and maybe a slight tiredness from Enzo to loose his concentration just for an split of an second etc…so, Ok US defended really bad with all those 3 goals scored by Dutch, but also the Dutch scored 3 good goals, so Arg must be aware of this and that is why we saw the change of formation against Australia, despite at 50th minute, but also it may had been related to Australias good pressing game in start of the second half as after change of formation somehow Arg looked even more confident and solid and Messi started to shine like he was reborn during the Late minute’s of match as offcourse this is also due to Australia trying to score an another one to level up and equal the game, so obviously that opened up more spaces for Messi and Arg as RDP started to look finally very close to that RDP as the real engine of Arg’s game, that we all have been used to since start of WC, which is morecthan good thing as no Lo Celso Arg will need him at his best and even more as i think he will have much more to offer, but Scaloni’s main idea is not to concede and offcourse try get at least 1 goal advantage to the opponent so that the opponent will start to chase Arg’s lead and that will hopefully Open up more places for Arg to score as we saw against Australia, but with due all my respect towards ” The SoccerRoos” who had more than great WC as they qualified to KO’s against Arg, because they won against Tunisia and Denmark too, which was big surrprise, so hat’s off for them, though Arg was clearly better team today as there are no easy game’s in WC and everything can hapoen as we have seen, some done purpously with help from FIFAS own referee’s and VAR and some, maybe with bit of luck, but also with very hard work etc… as the SoccerRoos did in the groupstages, but next opponent for Arg with due all my respect towards SoccerRoos are callled Netherlands, who i know have not yet played their best game in this WC as i hope they will not be able to do that at all, though i’m expecting difficult game for Arg against them as they clearly at least finished up their chances for those 3 goals with very high scoring%, even their whole game Still struggling against also good US team, which will be even better after 4 year’s in part of their home WC shared with Canada and Mexico as i’m expecting Canada also to Qualify in 4 year’s time to KO’s and also Mexico too…etc

    So another important win for Arg and next game against Dutch is like another final for Arg and if winning that as i truly hope so, then everything is possible in Semi’s even it is considered the most hardest game of WC etc…

    As i hope ADM will be fit to play with full strength, but also A.Correa and Dybala might finaly be needed also specially if going to extra time and therefore Scaloni has to consider his way of subbing players asuming and hoping that no injuries in the next game will effect Arg’s game plan, but it is a bit more than risky specially if one is leasing only with one goal that the coach uses all his sub’s before the game itself has ended as specially in WC at Qatar we all have seen how many minutes added time has and will be given forsure, maybe even more further in the tournament itself, so if someone get’s injured and can’t play any more, well a man disadvantage is never a goid thing no matter in which situation the team is and as we seen goals can be scored until the very end of such long added time as that the trademark of FIFAS WC IN QATAR! ANYHOW WE ALL MUST JUST TRUST IN THE TEAM OF OUR BELOVED ALBICELESTE AS WE CAN ONLY SUPPORT AS FANS AND WISH THAT LA SELECCION WILL TRULY WIN THIS WC !

  8. So much has been said already, feel a bit jaded for now. Just want to say it’s great to have clutch players like Messi, Lisandro and Dibu that can bail us out in difficult moments.

    My guess is Papu experiment is over and if Fideo is not fit we might see Angel or another formation vs Holland. Would not be surprised if we play 3-5-2/5-3-2 with Messi and Alvarez up front to match their 3-4-1-2.

    We are moving on to the next round, vamos!

    • DIBU needed today’s game to gain confidence since he wasn’t really tested since the KSA and even then but blocking a damn shot literally in the dying secs of the game to avoid disaster does wonders to a GK’s psyche.

    • @enganche
      EnganChe December 3, 2022 At 7:27 pm
      So much has been said already, feel a bit jaded for now. Just want to say it’s great to have clutch players like Messi, Lisandro and Dibu that can bail us out in difficult moments.

      My guess is Papu experiment is over and if Fideo is not fit we might see Angel or another formation vs Holland. Would not be surprised if we play 3-5-2/5-3-2 with Messi and Alvarez up front to match their 3-4-1-2.

      We are moving on to the next round, vamos!

      @enganche Yes, i fully agree with everything u wrote as i’m having similar feeling that Papu was not taken off, because he played badly, more or less i think this was a clear chance to practice with 3 at the back andci think Scaloni used that and therefore Papu taken out and subbed to Licha etc…who has played with Ajax and knows the Dutch style of play as even now his coach ETH together with him at MANU etc.., though Van Gaal will try to play a bit let’s say an unorthodox way or version of Dutch style of play, but Still The Dutch are allways Dutch and are borned with their way of playing as it is allmost like in their Dna or they get at latest as teached with very young age tonplay such a way as the Dutch will mainly play and has played and will also play, though obviously with some variations as specially with Van Gaal like’s his own variation etc…

      • As it might be the right time to unleash A.Correa against the Dutch as he could give them hard time with his movement with Alvarez together with support from RDP and Messi too to be able to win the ball as close to Dutch’a own goal and press them heavily, maybe not all the time, as some rest will be needed to with having the ball to be also able to at sometimes slow down the tempo so after sometime Arg could press hard again etc…also if Dybala fit to play he should be left the one very last chance to sub in as also it is obvious that in the next game Scaloni can’t use all his sub’s before the actual game itself has finished as specially if only leading by one goal forexample as u never know when the opponent will suddenly get and lucky or not goal as equalizer to level up the game as possible extra time and penalties too must be considered, hopefully not though !

  9. I believe this WC has been unique in many positive ways and don’t be surprised to witness a shocker in the next three days, let’s see how other big teams handle the pressure.

  10. “He [Messi] is incredible. One of the greatest ever,” Australia boss Graham Arnold said. “We really worked hard not to be in awe of him, because of the great player he is.

    “But wow, he’s remarkable. I had the privilege of playing against Diego Maradona, and now coaching against Messi — they’re both wonderful players and Argentina should be so proud and happy to have players of that calibre.”

    • @SorinXcrespO
      SorinXcrespO December 3, 2022 At 7:20 pm
      “He [Messi] is incredible. One of the greatest ever,” Australia boss Graham Arnold said. “We really worked hard not to be in awe of him, because of the great player he is.

      “But wow, he’s remarkable. I had the privilege of playing against Diego Maradona, and now coaching against Messi — they’re both wonderful players and Argentina should be so proud and happy to have players of that calibre.”

      Well, very nicely put and said by the Australian Coach/Boss Man, as also i think hats of to SoccerRoos to been able to qualify by beating Tunisia and Denmark too, which were not easiest opponents in this WC…anyhow i must agree with him and his every word, though obviously i haven’t never been able to play against DIEGO OR MESSI as it has been more tai privilidge to see both of them play since beginning of their career’s !
      But as obviously the most ever greatest individuals in history football, Still as much i have respect for both of them and what they have achieved with LA SELECCION, Still i must also give credit for those 10 another Arg players who have had the priviledge to be able share the very same team and also play on the pitch in the sameside with both those 2 greatest ever players in history of Football, so hat’s off to also fot those who shared the the very same LA SELECCION WITH DIEGO AND ALSO LATER ON WITH MESSI AS ALSO EVEN, MAYBE DIEGO WAS NEVER REALLY MENT BE COACH OF STILL HE ACTUALLY BECAME ONE ALSO AND COACHED MESSI TOO AND TEACHED HIM A LOT ABOUT FREE KICK, which will hopefully Still come later on this tournament as that would be wonderfull thing again to see Messi scoring from free kick with maybe ” a liite help of Diego’s Great Spirit” as now Messi has surpassed Diego by one goal in over all scoring more goals in WC’s, though DIEGO played only in 3 WC’s as BATIGOL Still holding that record as the most scored goals For LA SELECCION in WC’s etc..well honestly this record even how great it may sound and forsure also to be, Still in the end we all know what is the ultimate goal for Messi and current LA SELECCION, but offcourse even i can’t now remember the very exact number from BATIGOL, Still it would not harm current LA SELECCION if Messi could surrpass BATIGOL too…but if i would have to choice to pick between to end LAUTARO’s draught and MESSI surrpassing BATIGOL’s alltime record in WC’s forsure i will pick Lautaro to end his draught specially if that and most likely will just benefit Arg’s chances in this WC !

    • Do what I do, I check on the site to see if there is anything new concerning injuries or player changes and that’s it.
      In my opinion, 60% of what is said here is horseshit and its best to ignore it and save myself the irritation because NOTHING said here has any bearing on what happens during the game

    • @Mars2301 In this blog,some of you guys plays
      Coach
      Player
      Analyst
      Pundit
      Statisticians
      Hell at times I think yall want the other team to win.

      Mostly agreed as i may also have tendence to those words/things u said, but the last as ” Hell at times I think yall want the other team to win.” i think even there might be or may be some thinking like this, which i Still think of quite highly unlikely even some trolls or whatever will show up at sometimes on this website to just trying to put Arg down as my advice is not to pay any attention at all to such one’s talking trash and constantly putting Arg down etc..,as i’m pretty sure most of Mundo Members are true supporters of LA SELECCION OUR BELOVED ALBICELESTE for more than life time or that they have allways only supported one team as LA AELECCION OUR BELOVED ALBICELESTE !

  13. How many of you from US here glad that you don’t have to be the a$$hole showing up thr QF with the Arg. jersey 😄

    Also what the actual Fu#k is it with teams scoring stupidly lucky goals against us?

    And F the Aussies (no offense to the country) they will never let us live it down..
    They have come a very long way though in terms of their game..

    And a warm welcome to the post-match seagulls of this forum (no names) that swoop down to $hit on everything..yall need to know how to handle a victory lol..

  14. We are not enough dangerous. Against a team like Australia who didn’t pushed us for some reason and still Scaloni played like a pussy!! Same with Mexico, they literally hand over the match to us. Can Messi bailed Fucaloni again in the semi we will see but this team didn’t convince me tonight. How many times we went to attack as a team? Except Messi who shone? Anybody taking ant initiative when Messi is on 2nd gear?

  15. Argentina played 3 days ago.
    They were a little tired.
    They also underestimated Australia a little bit.
    They wanted to win with minimal effort and almost did.
    Australia scored a lucky goal and as e result got more motivated and Argentina needed to wake up. It’s not easy to switch gears for some players so we got in trouble.
    Scaloni made some bad decisions subbing players.
    also using all the subs so early is dangerous.
    It’s clear that we don’t have a second player like Di Maria. He stretches the field for us.
    I still think Enzo should play further up the pitch.
    Some players are out of form, especially Lautaro.
    I think Scaloni and the team should go back the drawing board and look to improve the team.
    I think the effort against The Netherlands will be different, more rest and we will be more concentrated, cautious and aware.

    • We have only 2 proper wingers in dimaria and correa. If dimaria doesn’t play correa is essential. We lack a target man also like higuain.icardi or simeone could have been useful

  16. Laurato runs and regular play are not that bad. Problems with him are he lost his place and hence confidence. You lost your place in the WC, can you believe it? He needs to be calm, accepts the situation and back to help us.

    I think Scanoli is worried about Dybala’s phystical capability. I think today he should have been introduced.

  17. Similar to Saudi Arabia’s 2nd goal, we had another team collapse attempting to defend against 1.effin.guy, the Australian Prime Messi (#16).

    79′ Romero. The errors started with a really stupid clearance from Romero right into 16’s feet.
    79′ De Paul chased after him but 16 passed it wide to fullback for a 1-2 and breezed right passed him.
    80′ Palacios chased him for a tackle him but failed. 16 dribbled passed him quickly without much threat.
    80′ Romero and Enzo. They both attempted to close him down from opposing sides but Prime Messi somehow easily dribbled passed like a hot knife through butter. (Romero’s 2nd mistake in 30 seconds). Beyond me how 2 defenders let #16 dribble between them with ease.
    80′ Otamendi overshot his body, 16 juked right and Otamendi tried to hook his right leg back but failed miserably.
    80′ The only player to succeed is this team display of horshit was Licha. Like a bat out of hell, slid in to block the shot.

    I’m not sure if Emi would have blocked it but all credit here goes to Licha. Last man standing, saved the team from Romero, De Paul, Enzo, and Otamendi’s failure to take on 1 guy.

  18. After the match I suddenly realized that j was standing right in front of the TV clapping…

    What a performance… with 2days back to back lung- busting performance by this team…

  19. I remember 2006 World Cup where Italy was going through same problem as us now. They beaten Australia 1-0 with controversial decisions to be fair than they beat Ukraine 2-0 I think afterthat game they beat German in Germany. They were a tournament team who was good at planning even they get rid of Zidane by planning tbh. There are room to improve always but it is better then packing your bag to go home then you prepare for next game with much needed time to rest. It ain’t gonna be walk in a park for Netherlands against us. Against Australia we had only 1 day to rest and prepare for the opposition we wasn’t even prepared for. Everyone thought it will be Denmark or France? It was physical game. This was a win for a tournament team. Hard fighting one. Also hats off to our 3 CB. Otamendi was heading everything coming towards him. I am 100% sure he would have headed away if there was any plane or birds coming towards him. Also it shows how important to have finally some World class center backs also a GK in our team. Best moment when Ota & Licha i think was hugging Dibu for that save. Let Netherlands come we will see

  20. Nothing wrong, very good win accept from lautaro misses and scoloni player selection..
    What happen to clinical lautrao. Even messi was surprised after the miss. Higuyn, lukaku will never miss this type of chances..good luck for him…
    And which earth papu in your starting 11 scoloni? I hope scoloni not misstake 3 rd time with.. Nothing player,… Papu..
    Even almada better than him

  22. @SulaV

    ”Scaloni’s no-1 priority is to not concede and especially not concede early which is why Molina is not making any aerial crosses, everything is from ground.”

    So what’s the point of Molina starting/playing if he is going to just sprint up the pitch then pass the ball back to his midfield/defense? It’s not just Molina’s lack of crossing, he rarely makes runs behind the opponent defenders inside the 18 yard box. I like Montiel, he was playing great at Sevilla (at the time Navas was out injured) but then he picked up a few injuries himself and this had set him back, he never returned to the same Montiel pre-injury at Sevilla. Molina technically is lacking and he can’t dribble in close proximity or tight spaces. So I can see why Montiel is always in the conversation to start because he is technically far superior than Moilina and can do all the things I mention with ease. Molina though is quicker so this is why he gets the edge over Montiel..If Montiel was quicker he would be a fine RB, someone in the mold of Dani Carvajal. Molina is decent though, he is a useful squad player.

  24. Following the loss vs the Saudis, Argentina had to win 6 finals, no matter what. 50% of those have now been won, which is the important takeaway from this game.

  27. Wow! Imagine how this site would look if we lost. Take it easy, now I know why many players couldn’t perform under fan pressure over the last decade. Remind me to not check in after a loss. 😂

    • @sorinxcrespo: That has been the case from sometime. Based on what I saw, we ( Arg) played well and controlled the midfield until the lucky goal. I will commend our Socceroos team who did pressurized in last 10 mins but other than that, it was all Argentina.

      Lautaro has to keep himself cool and we need to start Di maria

    • > players couldn’t perform under fan pressure over the last decade.

      Can’t be stressed enough. A bunch of spoiled nasty fans feeling entitled to the cup. They go and on with craziest and laziest criticisms and fail to compliment even when it’s deserved.

      • Right, other teams arrived home in the past to their fans applauding them after a loss. Argentina players rarely go back to Argentina after a loss unless they have to. 😂
        Remember when Messi wanted to retire from national team in 2014, then again in 2018? This is why.

        • Reminds me, have you seen the really touching letter from Enzo to Messi when he retired for a brief moment in 2016? Wish all supporters where like him. Enzo was 16….

          indianexpress.com/article/sports/football/dont-go-please-forgive-us-enzo-fernandezs-old-emotional-letter-to-leo-messi-goes-viral-8293701/

  30. People are over exaggerating on the negativity. It was fine until it was 2-1 with a random goal but they had control.

    I think Scaloni realized quickly papu not ready so I think that’s the last we see of him.

    Dimaria was missed badly as Australia was all over Messi. Messi built some crazy confidence today and had some good dribble but di Maria frees him up.

    Midfield did good. I’m not really sure of Scaloni tactics bringing Martinez when it was 1-0. I do think it’s bc these team bunker back so if you’re up why not. Either way, we need to have a better game versus Netherlands

  31. @richard

    ”With tactical genius Van Gaal at the helm, we’re facing an uphill battle.”

    2014 Van Gaal had Robben, Sniejder, Van Perise and Kuyt..Today’s Holland play like any other midtable European team in the same bracket as Denmark, Serbia and Switzerland..2014 Van Gaal Dutch team was better compare to 2022..Van Gaal doesn’t really have an international track record to be consisdered a genius. Scaloni won at Maracana, keeping Brazil off the scoresheet in back to back official games. So yes, this Argentina is a very strong team with lots of depth.

    Van Gaal has yet to play against a South American team like Argentina whose styles vary compared to your average European teams. Holland didn’t look good against Ecuador, a team that was good in possession,technical with the ball too and was just lacking in attack hence the reason why Ecuador didn’t win that game. Van Gaal is the same coach that crashed out of the 2020 Euros at the hands of Czech Republic, so we’re talking about a coach who doesn’t have a good track record at international tournaments. Van Gaal is far from a tactical ”genius,” is he a good coach? I think so..Let’s see how Van gaal does in this sequel of his with the Dutch national team at the World Cup.

    Brazil basically was missing Neymar and Casimero,without them this Brazil national team will struggle. So I wouldn’t say B team..France was already missing Kante and Pogba, so again I wouldn’t call the team that lost their B team..This is a competitive World Cup.

    • 100% correct. To me, Netherlands/Denmark/Switzerland are at the same level. Not an easy opponent but definitely not a dangerous competitor.

      • With Dumfries ,van dijk , Ake ,blind and de ligt , and dejong as CDM , they do have a good defensive unit..we won’t have enough room to attack in the box. And also they have good players to execute counter attack as well

        • Albiceleste2006 You’re not speaking with logic here, did you watch the USMNT vs Holland? 17 shots vs 11, and throughout the game the USMNT attackers were getting behind the Dutch defensive line with ease at times..The USMNT ran themselves into the ground during the group stage which left them with nothing else in the tank and it kind of showed against Holland, the early goal was also a gut punch.. This is football, Holland took their chances in a game they did not dominate, kudos to them.

      • Difference is that Netherlands have a much better coach then probably most euro nations. He knows how to analyze weaknesses pre game and execute. And even without the coach, Netherlands are still much better than the swiss and Denmark combined. Depay, de jong, blind, van dike, and the list goes on. You can’t mention more than one danish off the top of the head and no more than two swiss players maybe.

        Argentina are a better team regardless tho. Vamos

  33. I have one question : Why Messi needs to take all the work load in all the matches? He is 35 years old. Its clearly because of Scaloni’s wrong tactics. I want to see Messi in more relax mode and othe players to take responsibility.

    • Have you ever seen Messi being subbed out? Dybala was bring warmed up and clearly Messi indicated he wanted to continue. He’s also indicated in the past he would prefer playing out of the bench rather than being substituted.

  35. Sofa/Whoscore Rating and key stats – Defense

    Ota – 7.1 / 7.2 (1 tackle, 1 Interception, 8 clearances, 0 blocked, 4 aerials won)
    Romero – 6.6 / 6.4 (1 tackle, 0 Interception, 0 clearances, 1 blocked, 3 aerials won)
    Licha – 6.6 / 6.3 (0 tackle, 0 Interception, 2 clearances, 1 blocked, 2 aerials won)
    Emi – 6.5 / 6.2
    Molina – 6.3 / 6.0
    Acuna – 6.9 / 6.8
    Montiel – 6.7 / 6.2
    Tag – 6.3 / 6.0

    Whoscore Top 3 Performers – Messi 8.2, Otamendi 7.2, De Paul 7.0

    • I don’t really trust whoscored or sofa score. They don’t give good rating. TYC or Ole give better rating in general because they watch the game closely. For example Emi Martinez rating is very low according to whoscored. But if u watch the game, he was one of the heroes.

  37. Argentina players rating from TYC:
    Emi Martinez 9; Molina 6, Cuti 8, Otamendi 9, Acuna 6; Enzo 7, MacAllister 6, De Paul 7, Papu 6; Messi 9, Alvarez 7.

    Fron Ole:

    Emi 8; Molina 5.5, Cuti 6, Otamendi 6, Acuna 5.5; Enzo 7, MacAllister 6, De Paul 8; Papu 5, Alvarez 8, Messi 9. Licha 7

    My rating:
    Emi 8; Molina 6, Cuti 8, Otamendi 7, Acuna 6; Enzo 6, MacAllister 6, De Paul 8; Papu 6, Messi 9, Alvarez 8. Licha 8

  38. To sum up the match
    First half was pretty decent, as usual we were trying to not concede and make the game in our desired way, but Molina could have tried to go with the ball when he has space,he was totally scared to move forward and make a good cross or cut in to the box .always trying for back pass after going forward. other than that Aussies didn’t gave much space to operate through the central area.
    Second half..
    Game opened up a bit.and after the substitution of lisandro, we were able to attack constantly and pressed higher up the pitch.
    I can see lautaro was brought on to give him game time and boost his confidence since we don’t have any other players left to substitute in to perfect striker position, if Alvarez can’t start.
    But the goal from Australia definitely changed the tempo of the match and we were unable to bring in dybala. But scaloni could have tried dybala in place of PAPU from the Start papu wasn’t able to utilize the either flanks.
    Defense:
    Our defense has done pretty well except that tagli concentration in the end and Martinez saved us. But it was better we were tested with the crosses and attacks in this match, since from match 1 our defense wasn’t tested this much continuously in any game.
    Lisandro and otamendi and to an extent Romero has also done their job cleanly . Palacios haven’t offered anything in his short comeo same with montiel. Form of lautaro is worrying

    • Scaloni is playing ultra safe which is why he has instructed everyone to make less risky moves and passes. Molina is usually a great aerial crosser but we don’t have anyone in the box other than Alvarez to head the ball in but not all crosses require you to head the ball. Other countries trying the traditional approach of putting in crosses have been in a lot of desparate defending due to counter attacks and I understand Scaloni trying to not get into same situation especially after 2-0 up. But once Australia score the way our forwards panicked and consequently our midfield and defense started losing ball did create havoc in the last 3-4 mins. For the most part after Messi’s goal we were in control but it is also a truth that we didn’t create anything other than Messi’s goal & Alvarez’s astute goal. Scaloni needs to find a way to create more!!

  39. Due to total chaos I couldn’t pay much attention to the player who let the Australian player take the last shot of the match which Emi saved brilliantly! Was it Tagliafico?? I really thought he would be very useful when defending but now he can’t even defend in pressure situations. Messi also losing possession was unacceptable which almost led to the goal. Hopefully the management will go over all the panics and chaos and can work on the weaknesses.

    Other than the last 10min our midfield and defense did a great job in shutting down Australians but starting with washed-out Papu Gomez was a blunder from Scaloni. He again underestimated our opponent with his starting xi, formations and approach. Enzo played very deep almost with the CBs while Papu gomez who was well rested was struggling to penetrate from either flanks. I hope this is the end of Papu gomez in Argentina shirt, he is only useful against tired legs due to his age, would have done better than Lautaro if subbed in but starting Papu is a huge liability! Even Paredes would have made us look better.

    Alos, Australia may have done us a favor by exposing our weaknesses. Scaloni needs to figure out a plan to create more. We didn’t create anything other than Messi’s goal in the first half. I understand not conceding is his no-1 priority which is commendable but we need to create chances as we can’t afford to go to penalty’s against the dutch. Van-gal will use the three matches Mexico, Poland and Australia to exploit our weaknesses. Not letting us keep the possession of the ball while completely blocking Messi and other forwards is looking like a no-fail fool-proof strategy to trouble us. What was Enzo doing so deep with the CBs while we were struggling to create anything upfront. I am willing to give our players the benefit of the doubt that they were tired. They played 5 matches in 17 days which is too much but now they have 5 days to prepare!

    Lautaro misses were unacceptable and Messi also not being able to finish couple was not helpful at all! I am quite happy the way our defense and Midfield played today but we need to create more and in different styles. Everything we do is from ground passes and that could be a huge disadvantage. Scaloni needs to find a way to involve Dybala , he is in red hot form and yes we can have so many forwards playing but he needs to figure out a way to involve him. Going with washed up Papu gomez wasn’t the right approach. I am trying to put it mildly not sounding too negative but we all thought Papu was done after Saudi match, where his lack of pace caused us too much issues but starting him again in a knockout match does raise some questions on Scaloni’s part. No wonder he subbed him right after half time with Licha. We don’t have a like for like replacement for Alvarez other than Lautaro and I am too scared to sub him in again knowing that Dybala will not be able to play as pure no-9 if we need a goal.
    We don’t have any tempo whatsoever and not sure how Scaloni will bring that in when we are unable to create anything from the ground.

  40. You know, the negativity on this site is suffocating and as I said before, I’m NEVER here when a game is going because stupidity run amok.
    The game was going smoothly until that very unfortune deflection and then the game opened up and ARG should have scored at least 1 more but they didn’t due to Martinez’s obvious miss and DEBU came big at the very end and saved the day.

    NOW, many calling for Martinez’s head and that it should have been Dybala instead of him AS IF YOU KNOW FOR A DAMN FACT THAT DYBALA IS GOING TO PERFORM WHEN HE’S BEEN SITTING ON THE DAMN BENCH THUS FAR AND HASN’T PLAYED WITH THEM SINCE THE ITALY GAME, SO HOW YOU FIGURE HE WAS GONNA BE BETTER???

    Some of the other subs were a little suspect but you have to rotate fresh legs and Papu wasn’t bad at all AND THAT BTW SHOULD HAVE BEEN A DAMN HAND BALL 3MINS INTO THE GAME.
    NOTHING is easy in the WC and what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and making mistakes NOW is better than the game after WHEN YOU STILL CAN LEARN AND FIX THEM FOR THE FUTURE.
    Talking shit about Scaloni, who helped ARG qualify for WC with ease? OR WIN COPA AMERICA? OR GO 36 STRAIGHT GAMES UNDEFEATED YOU? HIM? STFU ALREADY.

    If you don’t have anything constructive to say don’t open your dumb mouth period.

  41. Have to go with Alvarez all the way now. His pressure and running is critical. Toro is having a nightmare right now. We have to go with what’s working. Messi looks so determined. MF trio is working as well. Aussies goal was a fluke and that’s the only thing that them back into the game. Lautaro should have put that game to bed long before Emis save…BTW…Save of the tournament just because of the situation and pressure

    • Alvarez will start 100% in all future matchups but Lautaro will be subbed in 100%. I’m afraid of Lautaro being the Palacio in 2014.

  42. “WC2022” special Bustards disappeared from the group and came back as flying canary birds to shit their yellow dirts all over this beautiful group.?
    How sadists are these Bustards.

  43. 7 matches with Champagne Football is not required to go far in the tournament.
    We have improved a lot from the first match day. I can see a Copa Pattern here. This is not club Football, where u play full year and becomes like a well oiled machine with good chemistry between players.. this is how it works with National Teams especially in this mid season World Cup.

  44. I admire Papu. He was brilliant at Atalanta and was good in first season at Sevilla but right now he has lost his sharpness. His touch, ball control is still there but can no longer run with the ball and beat his marker. I think it is painfully obvious. He is still ok but no longer a difference maker.

    We do not use wingplay. We do not have the player for it…it is ok. But our play through middle should compensate for that. Paredes looked good against Poland, 77 passes after being subbed on. We need that if we keep play like today. This is why Lo Celso’s direct runs and dribbling in midfield was so important, because we don’t have wingers. We are yet to fully fill the gap.

  45. This was a great Argentina performance, Australia wasn’t in this game until the unfortunate deflected goal that was going wide..

    Argentina easily has one of the best if not the best midfield at this year’s World cup..

    Ok let’s talk about the Netherlands, the USMNT had 59% possession while the Netherlands had 41%. USMNT had 17 shots and the Netherlands had 11 shots…So please stop with this overreaction with regards to the Dutch national team that struggled throughout the group stage and against USMNT in the R16. Holland is going to park the BUS and hope to counter attack because they don’t have the midfield to compete with Argentina.

    I’m always critical of Scaloni. Today I have to give credit where credit is due, Scaloni made changes when the team needed to change things up. This is not PS4, it’s the World Cup R16 where the majority of the games will be tense and close. These types of game build character and winning mentality. This is a Strong Argentina national team..

    So let’s throw up some stats here, Scaloni played against European teams 4 times; 3 wins and 1 draw. Scaloni’s strategy will match up well against European teams in this tournament. Argentina have a healthy Di Maria and Dybala who is yet to feature as an ace card.

    This is a World Cup where we have seen Germany and Belgium crashing out during the group stage. France, Brazil and Spain losing. Mexico always qualifies for the R16 crashing out. England was outplayed by the USMNT for 90 minutes and should have lost that game if not for poor US finishing. Morocco topped their group that consisted of Belgium and Croatia. This is an unusually competitive World Cup where all teams have shown character (except Qatar) even the ones that had no chance of making it out the group stage. Australia got 6 points in their group that had France and Denmark so they were worthy honorable opponents today. At the 2006 World Cup Italy defeated Australia by one goal in the R16. At the 2010 World Cup Spain was fortunate to get by Paraguay in the R16, this was the case for France too at the 1998 World Cup in the R16 against Paraguay. So these types of games do happen at the World Cup. People need to chill out with this ‘’free flowing’’ football that doesn’t even exist in this year’s World.

    All this talk about Brazil’s attack when they have yet to score a goal in any of the first half from their previous three group stage games. Moreover Brazil with their ‘’scary attack’’ scored the least amount of goals in their group which is 3 goals. So Argentina 5 goals in group stage Brazil 3 goals in group stage.

    My only criticism is Molina everytime he goes forward with the ball he passes it back in midfield, like he just wastes his time running down the flanks only to pass the ball in the middle of the park. My other criticism is Lautaro, he is out of form but I can see why Scaloni would sub him on because at the end of the day Lautaro is very important to this team in terms of goal, so of course the coach would love for him to get a goal in order to restore his confidence.

    TLDR;
    Overall strong goalkeeper, defense, midfield and a balanced attack..Weak points; Molina and the width of the team on the pitch.

    • Hi Kid, usually I agree with your view but this time you left out some important facts. Brazil, Portugal and France fielded their b team in the final group game. Weaker countries still have a chance if you play the strongest team last. especially if that team has already qualified.

      Today’s performance was worrying
      – lack of creativity. Only Messi has ideas.Almost all others keep passing wide or backwards.
      – lack of pace. First half was played at snail pace
      – no plan b if things do not work. Way too many similar players. Garnacho omission will haunt us.
      – Lack of form (Lautaro being the most prominent)

      But you were spot on regarding Molina. All his forward runs were useless.

      With tactical genius Van Gaal at the helm, we’re facing an uphill battle.

    • “My only criticism is Molina everytime he goes forward with the ball he passes it back in midfield”

      Scaloni’s no-1 priority is to not concede and especially not concede early which is why Molina is not making any aerial crosses, everything is from ground. It worked until 75th min until they scored a lucky goal and we couldn’t capitalize on the chances we created after that. Scaloni is playing very very safe and relying on Messi and Dimaria to create chances for him.

      • The only reason why Molina was not going forward was because of absence of DiMaria.

        I agree with everything but against Dutch, it won’t be an easy encounter but we will win.

  46. I don’t understand people saying this is an ugly game. This is our DNA in copa too. We create small chances from very chaotic game flows and damage opponent’s build up and game plan. This is how this Argentina win games! Sometimes it backfires us due to sloppiness and lack of concentration, but overall it works!

    Also, we are kind of in a one good game one bad game type of pattern. You can not be red hot through out 7 straight games. No team in history can do that. Ugly win at WC is 10000% acceptable.

  47. The worst thing that Scaloni does is to always make substitutions from the 60th minute. This is the knock out stage. If Scaloni substitutes all players and the opposition team returns to the game, Argentina will not be able to return to the game. Also in this World Cup, extra time is approximately 10 minutes. What to do if a player is injured?There is no choice but to defend in extra time.How to make substitutions should be learned from Carlo Ancelotti.scaloni always kill the game.

    • Troll how was your wish Australia winning hhhhh 😂😂😂😂😂 ole ole Argentina Argentina wake up its tournament football results counts move on

    • Thats wat i am not able to understand the tactics of Scaloni. Wat if it goes to xtra time which was very much possible… aussie nearly equalised.

    • I beg you, please don’t support Argentina..

      You are just in this forum to troll our players and coaching staffs,,
      You are cancer for this blog..

      Acuna and Molina are already tired, fresh legs can bring some energy..
      Either Montiel nor Tiagliafico do nothing in the pitch other than back passes and missed goal chances.. but still we had XI players in the pitch..
      They are professionals and they know the game better..
      Lautaro missed opportunities are horrible, we should kill the game by scoring the 3rd goal,, but it happens for all strikers,, we should accept and encourage him..
      End of the day, we are in Quarter final.. happy for that…

      Lautaro hold the ball in tight space , he tried to dribble in the third line,, these are good moments, you should enjoy it..

  48. Netherlands was lucky against USA. Argentina has nothing to fear. 5 days should be enough for everyone to recover. We will impose over game on them. That Messi Alvarez and Di Maria attack is unstoppable.

    • He is lost his head.every time Argentina are leading just 1-2 goals and quickly switch the whole team into defensive shape. And give opportunity to the opposition to back in the match.evey time substituted best player to worst player.if alverez stayed 80 th minuet Argentina might have 3-1 or 4-1.

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