Rumored Argentina starting eleven vs. Australia in Round of 16 at the World Cup

By
Roy Nemer
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89

Argentina national team Lionel Scaloni has most of his players set for the starting eleven against Australia in the Round of 16 at the World Cup.

Lionel Scaloni is not expected to make many changes to the starting eleven for Saturday’s match. Per reports out of Argentina, it will be Rodrigo de Paul, Enzo Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister who will start, the same players which started in the 2-0 win vs. Poland.

Julián Álvarez will replace Lautaro Martínez, just as he did against Poland. It will be Lionel Messi and Álvarez up front and with no Ángel Di María, it will be one of Ángel Correa, Papu Gómez or Paulo Dybala replacing Di María in attack.

Nicolás Otamendi and Nahuel Molina will start. Per a report by ESPN, the coaching staff has not yet decided on Lisandro Martínez or Cristian Romero to start as they are worried about possible fatigue on Romero’s part. This would be the rumored eleven:

Emiliano Martínez; Molina, Otamendi, Romero, Acuña, De Paul, Enzo, Mac Allister; Lionel Messi, Julián Álvarez, Ángel Correa or Papu Gómez or Paulo Dybala

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89 Comments

  3. First of all, I said it already. Scaloni does NOT lose trust on his regular rotation players. He said it in his interview, “Just because we did not play Paredes does not mean that we do not trust him anymore. Our team plays the best futbol with him on the pitch”. The same can be applied to other rotation players like Tagliafico, Montiel, Guido, Palacios, Correa, or Papu.

    What happens is the EPL based players just going up in pecking order such as MacAllilster, Alvarez, and Licha. Plus Enzo has been the revelation of Argentina so far. but Scaloni still think highly of his “veterans”.

    Secondly, I like the fact that Scaloni still tries Messi as false 9. Against Mexico it really worked as Julian is not a pure 9. He confused Mexican defenders as he was everywhere, sometimes left winger, sometimes 9, sometimes right winger, that kind of open more space to Messi. With this line up, Messi will be false 9 again as Papu and Alvarez can exchange position easily.

  4. Starting Papu gomez is really hinding at scaloni underestimating Australia

    At the end of the day, he’ll either be called a tactical genius or a fraud.

  5. Papu was never good for Argentina. He is a player to provide good crosses from left side. Argentina do not play in his style. I don’t know thr reason behind keeping Dybala out of XI if he is fit. Choosing Papu is just unjust!

  6. Disgusting selection. Is he getting chance because he is close to messi?? Such a bad omen. He started and we lost now again he is starting. My hope suddenly down by a considerable margin

  8. TODAY IS THE SHOWDOWN… WHAT WILL BE THE MISSION ACCOMPLISHED TODAY????

    Cuti will be a rock!
    Emi will be a Giant!
    DePaul will be an engine!
    DiMaria will celebrate with the heart gesture, symbolic love of all Argentine fans WORLDWIDE!
    Dybala will have his moment with his signature celebration!
    Enzo will get his chance and he will shine! (MISSION ACCOMPLISHED)
    Paredes will finally have one of his rocket shots on target!
    Alvarez will become the 9th Wonder of the World! (MISSION ACCOMPLISHED)
    Lautaro will set a record!
    Even MacAllister will be KEY and he will unlock defenses! (MISSION ACCOMPLISHED)
    Every sub will play like a starter! (MISSION ACCOMPLISHED)
    Messi will hold the trophy when it’s all set and done!
    In every major city in Argentina, the confetti will rain sky blue and white!
    Babies will be born 9 months from now!
    Broken marriages restored! “What were we arguing about again?”
    The world will sing a new song for Argentina!
    CR7 will sing don’t cry for me Argentina!

    Here in Mundo the troll, the agitator, the opinionated, the hater, and the fanatic will be in harmony and we’ll realize that we all loved our national team all along!

  10. Australian defenders are big, sure we don’t have a tall striker but Lautaro has play at least to challenge them in some way.
    3 man midfield but without a proper no.5 against a physical midfield. This midfield demands Guido Rodriguez.
    Just watched the Dutch confidently outplay the US. It is easy to play against US because they actually come out and play but the Aussies will play Aussie rule style and defend in numbers.
    Argentina has to shed their timidness and play with confidence and grit and everything will be just fine.

    • Dutch didnt out play US they just scored 3 goals by counter.US dominated the match with the possesion of 58% and had 11 shots one more than the Dutch. US lacks the experinece as their avarage age was 25

  11. We met the Dutch in WC 74, 78, 98, 06 and 2014. In between we played various friendlies in 80, 01 and 03.

    Worrying fact – we never beat them in 90 minutes. After extra time in 78 and after penalties in 14. It will be tough.

    A 5 3 2 is a must in that game. But first Australia.

    • Once again Argentina must face the Netherlands. Let’s get this done in 90 minutes!
      First, let’s beat Australia, the team from the down under!

  12. I check the penalty record of Andries Noppert, the Dutch goalie. It seems like he is another Van Der Sar: Tall but not that good at PK shootout. I am preparing in case we have to go to PK shootout. His size is scary tho: 6’8 (203 cm).

    • Yes. The Dutch will always be tough & QF will be a cagey affair. We need to beat Australia without struggling & importantly Acuna should not pick a yellow as he is already on one. No Dutch players missing QF due to cards. Surprisingly their GK Noppert who was supposed to be the weak link actually playing well.

  16. I am thinking about today’s match ..
    Almost everyone know it will be Netherlands in QF…but we may wish otherwise…
    A comfortable win today…then we will talk about Netherlands…

  17. If we slow down our build up (like we always do) the Dutch team has no legit threats to us in counter attack. We also like to take early fouls in transition (US never do) which also slow down the game. We are far more superior than Dutch in tight and slow possession game. This Dutch team is built for playing European teams, but they have no chance against technically strong teams like us, Brazil or Spain.

  19. If this USA team wasn’t a bunch of naive 20 year olds, they could have easily beaten this Dutch team. A pro team needs to defend lateral counters better than this lol

  25. What i saw so far i ain’t worry about Dutch. Real worry is ourselves and injury. Saudi game was biggest wake up call for ourselves. Also there is no way Depay lot will get that much space. He will definitely feel Cuti & Otamendi presence. When I say FEEL I meant those dirty tackles. They are vanurable too. Look how much opportunity USA getting. Dutch are much like Italy we played. Slow CB with good midfielder

  27. US is making the Dutch team look way more dangerous than they actually are. Us qualified from one of the weakest group. Dutch failed against Ecuador and won against Senegal due to luck and low confidence of the opposition. However conceding early against these fast paced teams will be a problem for sure. We aren’t going to go full fledged attack mode from the get go against the dutch like the US manager did. They wanted to fight pace with pace but lack of quality in the final third cost them goals. Anyways there doesn’t seem to be an upset today.

  28. My feelings watching this match is that USA is more dangerous to us than Dutch. This usmnt plays like a little France/England. They like to outrun the opponent with a dynamic midfield.

    • no disagree. Netherlands is the hottest team in Europe. They had 5 games winning streak before the WC. Their tactic is very cunning.They will not try to win the ball in midfield at all, hoping you would send more people to attack them. They let you to attack them and then they will counter you. It is 100% The netherlands of 2014, with less talented group but better defense.

      • Why did they struggle against Ecuador then? Ecuador were winning that match and outperformed them!! US is a weak struggled in the world cup qualifiers too. If US had kept it tight in the back and non conceded early we would be watching a different match right now.

  30. I’m worried about the Netherlands guys. They are basically using this game to practice their defensive positioning and counter-attack for Argentina. This is a training session and they are working on tactics!

  31. Netherlands is like a black hole, they suck all the energy out of the opponent, lack energy to take initiative and just wait for the mistakes. Two shots, two goals. Damn efficient.

  32. This Netherlands team is no where near 2014 level. There are so many snowflakes in this forum that are panic about ALL of our opponents. No need to worry too much. Australia is a cakewalk. Facing Netherlands, you need to mark Gakpo and put DiMaria and Acuna on the left side to counteract Dumphrey. We are all good.

    • They don’t need to be 2014 version. They still have talent and good defense. In the past was more predictable, give it Robben on the wings. Netherlands always a threat when they actually make it to a world cup

  34. Tyc says it’s between Papu and Correa…

    I really don’t get it. Don’t play Papu please!!!
    And Correa was a backup, why not play inform Dybala???? that is his position RW… Please lord let’s give Dybala some Minutes

  35. The Dutch play 100% like the Dutch of 2014: They let the opponents to attack them then launch a counter attack. It is a very dangerous tactic. It is the tactic also used by Antonio Conte who also used 3-4-3.

    In order to face this team, we have to be ugly. Being pretty will be punished. The same as how Sabella faced them, that’s how we play them. This tactic is perfect against possession based team like Spain, Man City, Barca, or Brazil.

    • Dutch team one of the luckiest team of this world cup …in every match they are 2nd best but getting the results. USA dominate whole 1st half but dutch score goals…

      • You don’t understand the game. USA is not dominating anything. The Netherlands are toying with them. Did you see the 1st goal? It started with Frankie De Jong prancing and dancing around in his box in front of his goalkeeper. Then he passed the right, then the ball with to midfield (USA players looking tired but going through the motion of chasing the ball), then the ball goes the wing and then a cut back that Messi would dream for – Memphis scored!

        The Netherlands are basically practicing their defensive positioning and counter-attack for Argentina. This is a training session!

        • Don’t worry we will practice our high press training session against Australia too today!! Our defense is the best in the tournament and our young midfield is fast and in form and they can’t leave Messi Dimaria Alvarez Lautaro unchecked and have their whole team run towards opposition’s goal like today. Remember US is weak and qualified from the weakest group of this world cup.

    • The difference between that 2014 team and this team is Dirk Kuyt and Van Persie. They have Dumfries and Danny Blind as wingbacks and Cody Gakpo and Memphis Depay as forwards. This team needs to be countered intelligently rather than sit back and absorb tactics. You only play sit back and absorb with Montiel and Tagliafico when the opponent is a super attacking team like Brazil in the Copa final.

      Argentina never play or wouldn’t play possession football ala Spain, and there is no reason to. However you do need threat to attack on counter and Tagliafico doesn’t give you that. Thinking Acuna in Argentina’s system as some sort of Alves like attacking fullback is a big mistake. If there is a chance to counter, we should and this Dutch system can be broken very easily.

      Long story short, its not very wise to play super defensive fullback against wingbacks like Danny Blind and Dumfries. I would play both Molina and Acuna and pack the center to not give Frenkie and Memphis any room.

  38. That’s the problem of subbing in Almada last game. Why did you give valuable time to a fraud? You absolutely should have sent Dybala or A.Correa and let them get some rhythm with the team.

  39. Not sure what the love affair is with Papu. He is a nice player…but I wouldn’t start the guy. He does great in 20 or 30’minutes but no way to start. If you are going to waste a start on him you are better off playing Lautaro or Dybala if Dybala is healthy.

  42. Us has conceded an early goal. They are being hit by non stopping waves of fast dutch counters.

    We can’t concede an early goal today too. If Romero has muscle fatigue then play Licha!! But we can’t have anyone that is not fully fit.

  45. When Di Maria was coming out against Poland, shouldn’t Scaloni have given some field time to Dybala or A Correa? I think Scaloni should have. Suddenly if you bring them in in a crucial knock out match it might be too overwhelming from them.

  47. hopefully he starts Dybala!!!
    The ones that are concerned about defense workrate of Dybala, Di Maria is the same maybe worse in defense contribution.
    I really hope Dybala starts or at least gets decent Mins….

    Vammmmmoooos we gotta win

  48. A huge fan of paolo and i was claiming for him since the first game but for this game he should start with correa for defending and covering don t think it will be an easy game italy in 2006 thought the same and they were almost out
    Hope we re gonna a see a diego s version of lio this time in the second round a better performance than 2014

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