Ángel Correa, Leandro Paredes tested in Argentina training, Ángel Di María returns

By
Roy Nemer
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277

Ángel Correa and Leandro Paredes were tested for Argentina during Tuesday’s training as Ángel Di María trained with the team.

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni has started to test players in training as he made two changes to the eleven which started the 2-1 win vs. Australia. Ángel Correa rained in place of Ángel Di María as he had a bib on with Julián Álvarez and Lionel Messi.

Leandro Paredes also had a bib on as he trained in midfield with Rodrigo De Paul and Alexis Mac Allister. These were the eleven players which were tested in training:

Montiel, Otamendi, Romero, Tagliafico; Paredes, De Paul, Mac Allister, Ángel Correa, Álvarez and Messi

Di María was also back training with the team on Tuesday.

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277 Comments

  1. Against Hollywood we can try….

    ————–Emi Martinez —————-
    —Romero——Otamendi–Licha—–
    ——————Enzo F———————–
    Depaul ——————————–Acuna
    ———————palacios —————–
    Maria————–Messi———–Alvarez

  2. Van gaal is saying that messi is not very involved in the game when his team is out of possession. IMO, this has certain element of truth. He did very well in knock-out matches in his career when his team played a possesion oriented game & other players in his team shares his defensive load. In such scenarios he can provide the creative spark that unlocks the opponent defense. Think UCL winning prime Barcelona team that pressed very well etc.

    IMO, He has not done nearly as well when he played knock-out matches for argentina which was more defensive oriented. We typically see that he goes missing in these matches. E.g. 2014 WC semi final/ final. If you read match reports of these matches you would typically see that he had may be one or two moments of brilliance but did not do anything else

    If this is true then how should we setup for the next matches of WorldCup? I think other players need to be in top physical condition & press very well & share messi’s defensive load. This is why RDP, enzo, julian is so important. May be more senior members here can share their perspective

  4. This time the pressure is extreme and too much to handle. Even on non match days the pressure is keep building. Not sure got the heart to watch the match. The biggest advantage for all the teams except Argentina is other nations only carry the hope of their respective country but we are shouldering the desire of whole world. We can understand the pressure on Messi’s shoes. That’s why we are panicking always. The biggest enemy of our our team is their own nerves and emotions created by the incredible expectations of fans like us almost half of the planet. No other options other than praying the football god’s.

    Regarding Nederland’s we must be aware of few things,

    1. Their keeper is reasonable.

    2. VVD is a monster – both in defending and heading..so we must be wary of their set pieces and corners.. height of our defenders must be considered.

    3. De Jong is a work horse coupled with creativity. We have to be extremely cautious with him.

    4. Dumfries create most of their goals. Our left side must be crowded more.

    5. They got a tricky and eccentric but unpredictable talented coach. Tactically he’s ahead of Scaloni at least in terms of experience. Every their substitution must be read carefully.

    At least a top four finish should be satisfying. All the best..

    • Don’t worry man, no team has the fighting spirit like Argentina, take this into account too.
      Btw we hava a better squad than the Dutch so we are expecting to win against them.
      Furthermore, I think scaloni is a very intelligent guy and he knows how to win tournaments.

    • hi buddy, I know exactly how u r feeling. I am simply enjoying my beloved team with no expectations. with God’s will we will win if not this then next. I ve been closely watching since 1990 and I knew argentina won 1986 but I was too young to be crazy of football then. football has changed over hmthe years. I would say it’s not as exciting as before. I have been hoping to win until it came to a point that I wish they play well. I want argentina to win for messi, I feel alot for him. he is still trying his best at 36 and he deserve it more than anyone and any nation. I used to cry when we lose but now I just wana enjoy while we are playing. I ve not watched none other matches apart from argentina, I don’t feel the world cup fever. hope our boys give the best and win

  5. Both for Portugal and Brazil, there were 3+ players upfront who were chasing after the opponent defence. So Switzerland and South Korea defence were either landing up with forced error or they were hurrying with their long passes. That was relieving the pressure from Portuguese and Brazilian defence. Against Australia, as long as Alvazrez was chasing their defence, our defence looked rock solid. The moment Lautaro came into the picture, the pressure started building on our defence. Had Lautaro used his brilliance to score a couple, the pressure would have gone again. But he failed to score and failed to pressurize – that is a deadly combination to help any opponent come back at our defence. I hope Scaloni gets 2-3 pressing players upfront even if that means keeping Di Maria as a replacement. Di Maria is more pressing than Messi. But he is not getting younger too. So Messi as the creative link to super-pressing Alvarez, Enzo and Correa might be a better strategy than Messi+Alvarez+Di Maria. The second combination would keep Enzo busy defending down.

  6. According sofascore This world cup brasil destructed 12 chances(highest)
    Germany..11 chances (2)
    Argentina destructed 10 chances(3rd highest)
    After 4-1 wining Against korea they scored total 7 goal while Argentina scored 7 goal..
    But they saying Argentina create less while brasil create a lot by fantastic four.lol
    Btw round of 16..emi,messi, ota get place in 11
    Brasil only puqueta…
    But no .. They say Argentina only messi dependent!

  8. The latest speculation from TYC Sports is that Di Maria is not fit to start, we’ll see if it’s true. Can muscle overloads be this bad?

    Emiliano Martinez ; Nahuel Molina , Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Marcos Acuña; Rodrigo DePaul , Enzo Fernandez , Alexis MacAllister ; Leandro Paredes or Ángel Correa or Paulo Dybala, Julián Álvarez and Lionel Messi

  10. I have full trust in Scaloni. Winning 39 matches with jus 1 loss in the last 3 years is not a mean achievement. I hope he can get his tactics spot on against a smart Holland coach.

    I think there were only handfull of matches where Argentina went behind or concede an early goal or a goal.

    This is one area that i feel Scaloni and his team has not been tested much yet. Match against SA and against Aussies, I felt that the team just loost its concentration,its shape, starts reacting unlike a Japan or Croatia who responds well to such scenarios.

    Hope we dont get to face such scenarios witt the Dutch.
    I really dont care how we win it…just win it.

  11. Either way, we will win the Netherlands. Maybe Brazil will be eliminated and then we will continue to beat Croatia. We will be in the final against France or England, we will beat one of them to win the championship.

    • Dutch coach went onto a rant. He claims Brazil is just a counter team. He thinks Messi becomes redundant without possession. He also states tht he has a score to settle with Argentina. And that Argentina are too centre oriented. He only rates the French and English teams higher than the Dutch.

      • Too confident. Some times, it looks like that in the paper but with players’ quality is so different, things will be out of his imagination. With Messi having the ball will attract 3-4 people around him, his strategy is not working anymore. Di Maria will attract at least 2

    • Tagliafico is much worse than Acuna, especially in the physical challenge. He will get smashed for sure, just like Montiel on the other side. The most important is that De Paul and Mac Allister need to do their job and protect the fullbacks. If you look at the last game, after Mac Allister was replaced by Palacios, Tagliafico was exposed to the danger alone and cannot deal with it. I always found Mac Allister very neutral but he may be useful to protect the fullbacks even though I believe he should do more.

  13. This World Cup is crazy. This is the World Cup for goalies. I am sure more than 50% of all PK in the world cup have been saved. It is never like that. GK saving 3 PK is like an easy thing.

    • Spain did really bad. 1st miss had good power but poor placement and it boinked off the right post. The other 2 were low to med power aim low center right and left. I like when players shoot hard towards corners or soft a la panenka. nothing in between. thats why i like Dybala’s pens so much. He shoots with high confidence and excellent placement.

  14. Defense Defense defense . In quarterfinals there is no weak team . The main point is which one Defense better .

    Look at morroco, they Defense very well .We can’t play as fluently as Spain and England . Actually we are the weakest one in quarterfinals or probably a bit better than Croatia. So it depends on our Defense. Let’s prepare for the penalty, be calm and realize our ability ,hope for the best .it won’t be easy task versus anyone in quarterfinals.

    • We are missing locelso, Gonzalez,garnarcho or even some talent youngsters. I would say now we had achieved our preliminary goal . Anything further will be a bonus .To be fair ,we aren’t in our best form during Copa America.

      In quarterfinals or semi, the most important is defense. we should be more conservative than agressive. it doesn’t matter whether you win stylishly or ugly. A win is a win . So I am not afraid of penalty kicks

      • Sad this is what has become of Argentina if your sentiments are true. We showed the world how to play football with our style of play and now you consider us the weakest in the quarterfinal.

        39-1 since Copa 2019 with 2 stars on the shirt, and 4 finals appearances (1 victory) since 2014.

        We may not be the most entertaining rendition of the national team but maybe have more grit. Please pray for our NT!

    • Lol. We cant play as Spain/England ? What are you smoking ? We are argentina. We can outplay both those teams. Only team we’ll change the dynamic for is VARzil.

  15. Portugal Didn’t depend on Ronaldo and scored 6 goal. I want to see the same with Argentina. Messi must play but Argentina should win with or without him. I don’t want to see Messi taking all the loads. Portugal, France, England, Brazil these teams has enormous bench strength and that surely important to win any tournament. Because players will be injured, luck would’nt support you all the time. It will be better Argentina should concentrate more in youth team and produce maximum number of players for future.

  16. Scoring first is very important. Never let opposition score first in the knock out. That will put lot of pressure on us and the opposition may score again when the space is opened up.
    Please remember, We never defeated Netherlands in regular time. NEVER.

  17. Di Maria should start somehow. In every important tournament we missed him and we failed. The guy runs at the defenders like anything tirelessly even though he is older now, still he plays the same.He is a must at this stage or else atleast start other work horse A.Correa.

    Spain put on around 1000 passes, but whats the point with all those possession if there is no end result. Spain has been always like this they tire the opponent with 1000passes but they simply cant score. Even with limited touches Morocco was creating something. Spain deserve to go out. Where as Morocco is a team full of determination and grit and full of concentration while defending. Kudos. I hope they repeat the same against Portugal.

    Saying of Potugal we all know who is gonna take credit of Portugal reaching Quarters. That dumb f***ing Idiot. He is whipping the benches of Portugal team sitting area and was doing same at M. Utd. Still his dumb fans will say he made it happen for Portugal. Shameless. And you know what he will do something against Morocco and the whole world will hail him. Somebody please take out Potugal off this WC. I just dont wanna see that sick face again. I would rather prefer any team i mean any team to win it other than Portugal. Now the last thing i wanna see in my lifetime is that dumbo with the WC. NOOO. Never.

  18. If Di Maria is at 100% fitness, he will start every game. He is the guarantee on attack in big games. We have to defend well against the Netherlands, not make mistakes like we did with Australia. Scaloni understands this better than anyone.

  19. I haven’t been on all day and as expected the posts are a mix of the usual suspect issues.
    So Morocco won, good for them because they played great and Nobody cant deny them that victory or call it lucky, I honestly thought Bono was gonna stop at least 1 but 3!!!! that was crazy….he was smiling and joking with Spain’s GK.

    I’m not gonna be hard on Enrique, the anniversary of the death of his daughter was not so long ago…..something like that could never leave a person.

    All I can say is this, It would be Nice for a change if ARGENTINA got an easy/worry free win like Portugal/Brazil…….just saying HER MAJESTY sat her pretty ass on the Bench making things a whole lot less painful and not wishing any injury on any player but G.Jesus is out of the WC……

    AS ALWAYS NOW, YESTERDAY TOMORROW NEXT WEEK FOREVER LET’S GO ARGENTINA, “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers”.

  22. Scaloni is a horrible manager. It looks like he is going to drop Enzo for Parades against the Netherlands. If he starts parades, Montiel and Tagliafico, Argentina will lose the game.

    • Suspensions due to cards get postponed after quarters. No player will miss semi’s due to cards. They will serve out the suspensions after the tournament

    • “WILL THE YELLOW CARDS BE CARRIED OVER FROM GROUP STAGE?

      Yes, yellow cards will be carried over from group stage. This means that if a player, who already has a yellow card from the group stage, can get suspended for the quarterfinal with a caution in the Round of 16 or be suspended for the semifinal with a yellow card in quarterfinal.

      But pending yellow cards will not be carried over from quarterfinals to semifinals, meaning a yellow card in the last-four will not result in a suspension for the final.”

  25. I was watching the penalty shootout against netherlands in 2014 and it reminded me about the final against germany. What if higuain scored on that chance, if there was var like today we would get the penalty for neur’s foul. And it hurts so bad! I just skip past the highlights of that final or clips of that gotze goal wherever I see it. Only match I will never watch again!

    • > I was watching the penalty shootout against netherlands in 2014

      I was a bar with a ton of Oranje fans and handful or Argies. What an incredible nerve wracking intense moment. Romero had a MONSTROUS performance at the world cup. I remember feeling so confident knowing El Chiquito was between the sticks.

  26. Even though all the games from now on in the Copa will be difficult, I’m feeling very confident in our team. Enzo, Alvarez, Messi, and 2/3 of the Martinez’s are playing well. Not to mention many others also playing decently. I’m excited to see us play the Dutch. It’s going to be a hard game, but as long as we have decent defensive cover, we should be able to keep a clean sheet and score a goal or two. I think the game will be tight and we will probably score an opening goal in the second half. I’m confident in how our defense has been playing and how they have been managed on the field.

  28. Also, I don’t want to read too much into it but Enzo should start. Paredes does build stability but you can’t take away the confidence Enzo is building. Enzo changes games unfortunately paredes doesn’t.

    I know Scaloni wants to be super defensive but I think that would be the wrong move.

  29. Relax guys. It doesn’t matter we won beautiful or ugly. We won. Hopefully we will win the next game as well. Spain scored 6 goals against coast Arica and see wot happened to them. Portugal & Brazil lost the last grp match and won by huge margin in R16. Every day is different. Every match is different. Be positive and stop spreading negativity.

  30. Maybe I am being superstitious, I do not like the way I see training post of our players on social media. I believe at this point whatever training we want to do, should be behind close door not where people will be seeing us. we can’t have our drills leaked to opponent teams. Scaloni should caution them or control the press or paparazzi

  31. I’m glad all these teams are flying high and scoring like crazy. Get their confidence up and stay cocky please.

    If we win by 1 goal, by a Pk, by a deflection who cares. No one googles the games to see how they played, they Google the scores and see the score line. If Argentina continues to win that’s all I care

  32. There is a lot of comments here about people being negative or fake supporters here. I am not so critical. I believe if someone is spending their time here, they would be genuine Argentina supporters.

    Now, I believe the negativity is coming from our performances. We have played 4 games so far, and our team have not given any extended performance that gives confidence that yeah you know what we will beat so and so team. It can be easy or hard but we will beat team X. Same team in copa gave that confidence. Here we are somehow battling through the games just not looking like a solid cohesive unit.

    One game at a time. Morocco have shown with right defending and a little bit of luck, you can make it work. We don’t have any internal issues or major injury problem. So may be we can move another step, even though we don’t look like a smooth team. VAMOS!

    • I don’t think we should expect this ARG team to play free flowing attacking football like the 2006 team as it lacks personnel as well as a coach with that mentality. We aint that team and neither were we that team in Copa America.

      This Argentina team is built to absorb and win and we have been doing that bar the Mexico game. Defense is our strength and we should be proud of it.

  33. I don’t understand panicking from fan base. If we are meant to win world cup, we will win somehow if not we wont. I see one of five players being superstar after winning world cup, Messi, Ronaldo, Kane, Neymar or Mbappe.

    We need to stop panicking and focus more on our games than other teams. Look at RM, they won UCL against all odds because it was meant to be. I have enough trauma after Portugal won Euro 2016. So i am open to any kind of result.

  35. For those who are obsessed with beautiful and possession football, have you seen what happened to Spain today? After Spain’s first game some of Mundoers were saying that Scaloni should learn the art of football from Enrique. Does Scaloni still need to learn it from Enrique? lol. Yes, we don’t play the most beautiful football in the planet right now, but we aren’t the team with the ugliest football either. Our performances were very good, except the first game.
    People only remember the glories and nobody will remember beautiful football without a trophy. We played the most amazing football in 2006 wc, but football fans around the world remember that year with Italy. People remember Fabio Garosso’s penalty more than they do Maxi’s goal vs. Mexico. Scaloni is doing what Marcelo Lippi did in 2006. Am very happy with that.

    • Dadir10, we are “Spain light”. 2nd after Spain for most passess in the world cup. Our dominating style is mostly possession based + passing out the back + intense pressing, but the key difference is that were more effective and direct in attack. Possession without purpose is tortuous, as we have seen with Spain, but when possession is coupled with hunger for goals, i wouldn’t want any other style. Just look at our goals, most have come from “death by a thousand cuts” passing. 22, 27 passes, etc … our boys passing around, waiting for their defense to lose focus and then boom..

    • Spain plays possession football, but they don’t play attacking football. There’s a difference.

      Manchester City plays possession attacking football, Bayern plays possession attacking football, Arsenal plays possession attacking football, NOT spain. Spain plays possession defensive football and the day we play like that I will raise hell in mundo lol.

    • So what do you tell us about Portugal since they were free flowing? I know we are not here to discuss other teams, but let’s be realistic. Portugal, France, England and Brazil has strongest squad depth. If the players especially defense repeat same mistakes in R016 against Netherlands, Argentina will be going home. At this juncture all players must give 100%.

  36. It happens to a lot of team sports where legendary/world class players who are past his best, they become cancers to their team. What happens to CR7 is common. I can give you a lot of examples:
    1. Franco Baresi was a legend of Italy and Milan. But when he was old, he became a cancer for Milan that resulted in Milan looking bad. It is ironic because a year before his declined year, Milan still won Scudetto with Baresi captaining the team.
    2. Javier Mascherano was world class, unfortunately in 2018 when he already declined, he was at least 1 year too old to play/start for us. For me his presence became a cancer that year.
    3. Gabriel Batistuta just passed his best in 2002. He scored just 6 serie A goal that year. Bielsa made a mistake to start him instead of Crespo who was on fire for Lazio. So he also became a cancer. No wonder why we looked really bad in the WC 2002. Batigol was excellent in the WCQ because he did not decline yet, but in 2002 that exactly when he declined.
    4. Michael Jordan. When he made a return after retiring for 2 years for Washington Bullets, he became a cancer. They gave all the ball to him but he was not even half of the GOAT people know.
    5. Kobe Bryant. In hist last 2 seasons before he retired, he became a cancer for the Lakers.
    6. Xavi. Barca sticked with him until he was 35 and Barca declined.
    7. Luis Suarez and Cavani this year. They are done and they becomes cancers for Uruguay.
    8. Nauer. One of the best ever goalies ever lived, but he becomes a cancer for Germany.
    9. Alexis Sanchez. He is done but Chile still relying on him. He becomes a cancer.
    10. Charles Puyol. He was ridiculed by Di Maria the last year before he retired to show that he is done. Once a world class but became a cancer.
    11. Diego Maradona. In 1994 he became a cancer.

    And many more.

    Some oldies are still good enough and still contribute to their teams though such as our Di Maria, Messi, Otamendi, or yesterday Thiago Silva or today Pepe or Modric. But not all older players can be like them.

    Maybe one day if Messi decides to keep playing for Argentina for 3-4 more years, he could end like like CR7 today if we keep (over)relying on him because a lot of GOAT/World class/legendary players were in that position. I hope Messi will still be effectice until 37 or so like Modric if he decides to keep playing for us, but let’s see. Di Maria knows that he’s still good today but if he never says that he would retire after the WC, I am sure he would be a cancer in a year or so.

    All those players became a cancer all of a sudden. I mean the likes of Batigol in 2001 still scored 20 serie A goals and then in 2002 (the WC year) he scored 6. The same with CR7, last year was still prolific for MU by being MU top scorer and looked good with Portugal and this year he becomes a total cancer. It just comes like that without any notice. Baresi won scudetto in 1996 and in 1997 they finished 11th!

    • Couldn’t agree more about Batigoal and Macherano. Both were too big to be forcefully dropped ! If I am not mistaken Batistutta was just coming out from an injury. Mascherano was at best a bench player in 2018 but kept starting for us. He along with few others should have been dropped to bench right after 2016 Copa final loss but Bauza failed to do that!

      • Masche did great against Iceland but yes, his form and fitness cost us. Especially since he moved to China the year prior.
        Who could have replaced him…Paredes?…..Ascacibar? Paredes especially was a viable option but sometimes i feel like Masche and his old ass legs have greater defensive instinct and drive than Paredes. Regardless, i don’t either would have made a scintilla of difference with the Sampa trainwreck at the helm.

    • Hello, Have always respected and read your comments, like I do for most old timers here. But disagree a bit here about Xavi. Xavi’s last season 14/15 was a treble year for Barca. Louis Enrique even benched & subbed him in games and he never created any issues, but just accepted it with grace and played his best whenever he was in. On the contrary, when in that first match in 2015, when Leo and Neymar had an issue as they were benched after they came back from holiday, it was Xavi who mediated between Leo and LE (Leo actually build an excellent relation with Enrique therein about which he recently spoke) and thereafter Barca was just like a super team till the CL final. Xavi left Barca with grace and in the most beautiful way suiting a legend. He never behaved badly or put himself in a horrible position for others.

      Agree with all the rest , even if I would still not call Puyol a cancer but accepted the coach’s decision with grace. He just should have retired 1/2 seasons earlier. Have seen all the other players fully, except for Baresi and the basketball stars.

      I dont think Leo or ADM will be a cancer though and hope they will retire right in time. They have handled themselves so well so far. Leo though, I really wish he plays as long as he can. Even his mere presence can make shivers in a team.

      All those comments here ridiculing Scaloni and Argentina, they dont recognise the fact that we are the only team who faced a parked bus in all our WC matches. ALL…The reason for that is the presence of Leo, who even if he cant make those slaloms, most opposition teams are scared of his passes.. As long as he can pass thus, Leo will be effective.
      I only hope, we can finish off matches even without his 100%. Alvarez and Enzo give me lots of hope. Just so tensed about our fullbacks.
      Whatever.. Vamos Argentina.

  37. So many mundo fans are just negative. a match that has not been played you guys think we have lost? I have said it before go and support other team, it is just that simple. Nobody is forcing you. You negativity is not helpful. bunch of 🤡

      • True! messed up mentality and just as Iron Mike says “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” let the dutch make whatever noise they want to make. We will see what will happen that day. I rest my case

      • Argentina played for messi since 2009 and messi MUST do anything absorbing defenders creating space passing scoring chances everything when he was under 30 it was possible but now he s 35 you see when he on run that he almost die everytime and with all this when he passes the ball the forwards is chasing bird instead of net
        I m not negative but it s the truth higuain used to fuck the victories and now lautaro
        Valadano and burrichaga wasn t worthing million and billion but they were scoring important goals
        Argentina last 15 years the only guy who scored important goals were di maria except pipita goal against belgium the rest is a coffin

        • Pastore 2015 Copa, Lavezzi 2016 Copa scored important goals. Tevez scored important goals WC 2010. Dybala Copa 2019.
          Enzo’s important goal vs Mexico, Alvarez vs Australia (since they got one back).

    • And many say we must be defensive! I understand the logic but what we need is to be defensive from the top with pressing like we seen for alvarez goal, hunt them down, you can’t play defensive and expect to have much chance against van dijk et al!

      An give de jong zero time on the ball to pick his pass!

  38. for our next game:

    1. As usual Enzo and Julian are a must.

    2. We have to be able to contain Holland attackers – Depay, Gakpo, Dumfries and Bergwijn. They are pacy, strong and love dribbling. They fit for counter attacks. I believe Scaloni should use defensive wing back like Montiel or Foyth. I know Molina is great but offers nothing at the back and he panics a lot under pressure. The Aussies knew he was the weak link that was why they were focing all their attack to his wing. I suspect the dutch might likely try the same thing which his similar to what they did to USA. That USA defender Robertson was outsmart, outpaced and outmuscled. He was picked on and bulied. In fact all the 3 goals they scored was from the same wing. for me our defense lineup should be:

    Montiel/Foyth===Cuti/Lisandro===Otamend====Acuna

    I like Foyth but he does play the same way he plays in Villareal. He does not give his best, you know that “do or die” attitude or vibe is just not there. For us he is way too relaxed that is why I will go with Montiel. Had it been that he has the attitude and does not dribble in the back (in fact this is what I hate most about him – he should know you cannot be dribbling in dangerous area for obvious reasons. just pass the ball or kick it in), he would have been perfect.

    3. We also have to prepare for headings or setpieces too. You know they have players that are good at headings – Van dijk, Deligt, Blind,…

    4. We have to be able to convert our chances better. This is not the time for any of our players to be having an off day. I DON’T WANT ANY EXCUSE. I hope Scaloni is giving them shooting practices.

    5. We should prepare for every thing including pen shoot too.

    6. With the way we have been hearing “Messi this and Messi that..” from the dutch. We can believe they have a plan for Leo. Now more than ever our players have to step up. We can’t always keep relying on Leo. In fact it might be a blessing in disguise, we can use Leo to distract them.

    7. their is okay too with Dejong. We have to watch out for his creativity, passes and long range shots.

    8. Scaloni should be careful with his sub too, they are too early.

    9. As usual emotions do not win anything, we have to remain calm.

      • what is with ‘hate’ on Montiel. I do not like him too but he gives more defensive stability which is what we really need now compare to Molina that does not give anything at the backline

        • Montiel is so clueless with the ball. Netherlands can easily target him and force him to distribute the ball. Molina is a more complete RB. Also, I don’t understand people saying Montiel is better defensively? Montiel only know how to take tactical fouls to stop the play. I never seen him made big tackles or interceptions or any smart defensive plays.

          • Because:
            1. he does not leave his wing unlikely Molina who overlaps a lot that can leave space for pacy players like dumfries to use which cause a lot of work for our defenders.

            2. he tackles are better than Molina
            3. his attitude in the defense line his “do or die.”
            4. suprisingly he can handle pressure better than Molina.

            I know what you mean when you say “easily target him”, we do not need to worry about that since Paul will give support. In fact Paul does the same with Molina but the protection is still not enough compare with Montiel

    • Yeah scaloni’s subs are too early. He subs in a defender for a midfielder/attacker very early when we are leading by a goal. What if the opponent comes back and we are trailing? This will mess up his game plan.

  39. In pre quarter, only morocco ,Croatia and Argentina suffered to get past in to QF , but this isn’t a good list to be included that too against the minnows Australia. All other heavy weights with tight defense and good forwards made it easily into QFs. Guess our road will end in QF against Netherlands

  41. youtube.com/watch?v=x8mRCJKggro
    Tactical analysis in English of the Poland game. Unfortunately there is no video on the Australia game

    youtube.com/watch?v=SssakmN6aTQ
    Tactical analysis in English of the Netherlands vs. USA, definitely valuable to watch ahead of our match

    Spanish overview/tactical analysis of the Netherlands
    youtube.com/watch?v=fL757vCmsqQ

  42. This is why we can’t concede early and not concede at all!! I am okay if our teams looks ugly like against first halves Mexico and Australia as long as we can keep it extremly tight in the back!! Under no circumstances we can allow Dutch players to repeat the last 10mins of the mahyem like Australia did to us! Whole team panicked and the worst of the lot mr Tagliafico let the 18 years old striker from Australian domestic league get the better of him and let him steal the ball under his nose!!! Instead of playing Tagliafico for Acuna it is better Scaloni plays Licha or even Pezella in that position as he offers nothing going forward anyways!! Tagliafico makes gives me panic attack whenever he enters the field! LOL

  43. Portugal playing wonderful football without Ronaldo. The team is gifted and have positive mentality. Knowing that they are already 4-0 up, they keep playing their own game, which is admiring and an exhibition of their confidence in themselves.

    I used to like Portugal a lot (off course second to Argentina) during the time of Rui Costa. Although, I have no detest for Ronaldo, somehow the likeness for Portugal faded during his reign. It maybe coming back watching Bruno Fernandez.

    I wish an Argentina-Portugal final.

    • I was a fan of Portugal during Rui Costa too. He was my favorite playmaker because he played for Fiorentina. Back then I watched all Fiorentina matches. But when CR7 is born as a Portuguese, I changed my mind completely.

      • Same here bcs of Rui costa and luis Figo days Ronaldo made me not like them after when he leaves they will always be the team I like as long they don’t face Argentina but I still I root for them vs England if they face each other in semi finals

        • I suppose the dislike for Portugal among Argentina supporters steams from 1) Messi-Ronaldo rivalry and to some extent 2) Ronaldo’s personality.

          For the second point, It’s not uncommon to have big egos among big players. Somehow, Messi is an exception. Maradona, Pele, Mbappe, even Garnaco have it.

          As for the first point, to me there is no comparison between Messi and Ronaldo. So, I don’t get carried away by all these media buzz, intended for business purposes. If you let a cheetah race with a racing dog, you know that the winner will be the dog. Coz, it’s insulting for the cheetah to even compete with the dog. So, I don’t even take a shred of this fake rivalry upon myself. I didn’t loss my likeness for Portugal because of Ronaldo. But, maybe because of Pepe. I don’t like this guy. He could be a good player but doesn’t seem like a good person. But, I could be wrong.

    • I hope Lautaro is watching from goncalo Ramos and learning how to finish chances. Am optimistic he will improves and start getting serious. Otherwise his previous performances sometimes have made me miss Giovanni Simeone.

  44. We need to put our young guns, that will be like a surprise question for opponent’s test. Young players are flying in this tournament, apart from Spain.

  47. On Lautaro — the situation is highly unfortunate. I remember during this season I kept on thinking to myself “This is PERFECT, out #9 is on fire at the perfect time and that’s exactly what we need going into the WC”. Lo and behold we lose against Saudi Arabia and his first World Cup goal, which I was so proud of, was wrongly ruled offside. Against Mexico he got no service at all and against Poland he was benched. Almost more than any other position, the #9 needs confidence. Alvarez scored against UAE while Lautaro’s confidence got diminished against KSA. He is 100% capable of scoring what he missed against Aus but clearly his mentality is at play. Still, I remember that at the beginning of Copa he was AWFUL and then suddenly gained his confidence with a goal against Bolivia and the rest was history. Unfortunately I don’t think we have a Bolivia anymore. Australia should have been his Bolivia. Messi tried to give him chances when he didn’t exactly have to. Now unfortunately there is no time for risks. Still I am sure that Lautaro will get some minutes in this WC. I hope that even if it’s a fluke goal or something weird he scores it. I think he needs it. #9’s are like that, they suddenly appear and score you a goal. I still trust our second top high scorer of the Scaloni era. And while it did give some Higuain flashbacks I think the last thing he needs is for fans to be saying that. Lautaro didn’t make us lose three finals in a role with sitters. I think the situation has been slightly unfair to him. Thank goodness for Alvarez, and thank you Pep for putting him in your team right when he needed it. And thank you Gallardo for your work with him and Enzo too. Vamos!

  48. What is working for Portugal? They are successfully out of the shadows of their superstar and two young players who are super pressing the Swiss defence right up front.

  49. You guys can praise all the other 7 teams. But one thing for sure, I am supremely confident with our defensive ability. I don’t believe any team can score against us in normal way (no deflections, no PK, or something like that). Although not tested that much, but other than Saudi Arabia, I remember Emi only got tested 2 times: One FK of Mexico and the 97th minute attempt from Aussie. Other than that, no team created any danger against us. And I do believe our defense will get stronger and stronger.

    • don t give attention. i wonder only when we will park the bus against Brasil and we will win 1-0 with assist of Messi to Alvarez or Di maria what those guys will say? 🙂 🙂 🙂

      • They won’t say anything, they will disappear like after Copa. If we lose, they will swarm. That’s the difference, some of us are here if we lose or if we win, it doesn’t matter. Some are here only if we win or only if we lose.

      • @cox I know it’s sarcasm 😜 Who cares what they think? Winning a tournament is not like playing FIFA you have to change tactics as per opponents.

        Sometimes you need to conserve energy so that you can be efficient for entire tournament.

  50. i am really wondering. Do we have any new? are players of Spain still passing the ball in parking or they move to airport? if somebody have info i am interest.

  51. Another mention, the Dybala situation really has me on the edge. I don’t know what opinion to formulate AT ALL. On one hand he is generally similar to Messi in the role he takes, the spaces he sometimes occupies, lack of pressing, etc. On the other hand I’ve seen him interchange well with Messi even just in glimpses these past 3 years. I’ve seen him press against Uruguay to give us the victory. I’m sure if you tell him to press he will. So I don’t know, his general style of play always hints that he might not be suited to playing along Messi but I’ve seen Scaloni make it work at times before, and there clearly must be some tactic where it does. But I don’t know enough about tactics to comment more than that. Still, I imagine that it is possible that in playing BOTH Messi and Dybala you might be giving something up, right? For one you don’t want to play the two of them alongside Di Maria. So on the x11 you give up Fideo. Maybe you give up something in pressing, but again I’m sure he would press much more than Lautaro yesterday. I’m sure at the end of the Australia game he would have scored in those interchanges with Messi. It really confuses me, and unfortunately instead of El Mongol explaining this (I sound like a broken record lol) we have some 13 year olds hoping we lose because we don’t play Dybala

    • I think Alvarez and Toro are ahead of him for the number 9 role and Messi for a free role. If we desperately need a goal we might see Dybala, Messi and another forward.

    • Dybala is a forward who, to be effective will need to have the ball on his feet, similar to Messi. He is not a type of forward who will make runs like Julian or play on the back of the shoulder of the last defender. Dybala wants the ball on his feet at the edge of the box and he wants to make small dribbles or cutback to other forwards, particularly the target man of his team OR shoot. He would be an auxiliary forward to help Lautraro if Messi wasn’t here and Lautaro was a starter. Right now, he will only play if Messi doesn’t and nobody sure as heck doesn’t want that other than the Outlaw guy.

      What Julian does is he makes constant runs ALL the time. It’s not his hobby, it’s his bread and butter and that’s how he plays. He moves and makes runs constantly when mids have the ball and when the opponent has it he press. That’s Alvarez, and that’s why Man City got him. If Dybala could do what Alvarez can he would have played more than Alvarez.

      • Yeah, that’s a good point, we need a traditional forward that makes runs. That’s not really Dybala’s characteristic — that I know of. I do wonder how a combination of Alvarez/Lautaro – Messi – Dybala would play out in a later stage of a game, like against Italy, but for more minutes

      • Goal #1 and Goal #2. youtube.com/watch?v=Tl6204Fid_c
        Stunning Volley against Inter – youtube.com/watch?v=k6P90Y_uiYg
        All 5 goals (bangers) for Roma – youtube.com/watch?v=-2VbgeBijg0&t=1s

        These goals don’t align with your view of Dybala. He isn’t as narrow as your making him out to be. He’s way more dynamic capable of scoring ALL Sorts of goals. Generally, I do agree he likes to have the ball at his feet, small dribbles, and shoot from outside box, etc but he also runs into the box and scores quick 1 touch shots. No one aside from Messi and ADM, is more clinical in our squad than Dybala.
        (also, i know you didn’t say this but this idea that Dybala doesn’t press or defend is mostly made from those that do not watch him)

    • I can’t help but feel there is going to be an important part for Dybala to play at some point, for some reason..an unexpected gift of sorts. I’m not the biggest fan of Dybala but he is a good player, he’s not the same player he was when he was 23 and neither is Messi, I think at this time in their game, they would finally complement each other!

  52. So Santos decision Work after benching ronaldi, Cancelo. Lol..
    Actually in this world cup the players who were inform with clubs they are playing great with National team. Thats why de paul, de maria take time to back in form. So scoloni should think about it..

  53. After a good first half by Portugal, the trolls are now showering Portugal with praise lol. 99.9% Portugal won’t win this WC. The teams they will face in the next rounds aren’t a joke and are stronger than team, except Morocco who is on their level. And never forget that the swiss team will fight until the very last minute of the game. Remember their game vs France in the Euros? At some point in that match they were 3-1 down. Am waiting for such comeback now!

    • they had great coach back then Petkovic but the current coach Murat Yakin is a Clueless coach I live in Switzerland no one has faith in him

  54. Anyways, I’m back after a bit of an absence. I have a rule for myself to only comment when I’ve caught up on all other comments to save myself from some awkward situation or to avoid saying the same exact thing someone else did. But now I give up, I’ve been trying to catch up for 3 days but with the little free time I have it may be impossible until Thursday.

    So a but late but VAMOOSSSSSS ARGENTINA!!!!! We are in the top 8. Even though we’ve been essentially playing knockout football since the second game this is where the real real WC starts. I’m going to be losing it against Holland. I don’t care too much that the game was tough against Australia because like others have noted there are many reasons, 1) fatigue 2) bad luck from that weird goal 3) no Di Maria and 4) Australia aren’t pushovers! This is truly a special World Cup with the amount of surprises and little teams have really advanced their professionalism significantly. The way Japan physically blew Germany out of the water with their pressing surprised me since you’re talking about some of the shortest people on Earth vs. some of the tallest.

    By the way, some of the comments I did manage to catch up on really annoy me. People hoping that we lose because of Dybala and a bunch of another nonsense. Can anyone remind me why we don’t have an ignore button? If I’m correct Roy once gave a logistical reason as to why we don’t have it and I forgot. If an effective ignore button could be put in place it would essentially allow people to transform this site for the better, all the people that left because of the trolls and horseshit could come back and enjoy a high quality of discourse once more.

    • Welcome back. You missed the food and the jokes.
      Today we are trying to get footage of the Spanish team passing the ball around still at the airport. Also, the Dybala debacle is a confusing one. I want to see him in the field also, but how and where and when ????
      Some other things u may have missed:
      Some fool wrote the other day “what we wear doesn’t matter”
      Another fool wrote “we are lucky to be at quarter finals”
      I personally think we are looking good with only two other teams looking scary being Brazil and France. But I’m also one of the fools, so who knows.
      Only thing I am sure of is that we are going to play Holllanda this Friday and our boys will be ready.

      • Yep, part of the reason I couldn’t catch up with all the comments is I have to scroll though a ton of dumpster fire to find what I want to read.

        And another reminder SorinxCrespo, do you remember the comments during the Copa America? Reminds me a lot of what you are mentioning. They all said Brazil was going to win and Scaloni should be fired and we are awful. Nobody learns, it seems

        • Yup. Always complainin and fighting. Other teams that lose have their fans cheering for them for their performances even after loss. We boo our team even after a win.

          • The funny thing is that some trolls don’t even bother changing their username.
            I’m sure there are some posting positive comments and waiting for a debacle.
            Coming back to the next match, I’m confident that we will win, but it may go deep.

    • Welcome back! You missed a sea of negativity and a bunch of racist, xenophobic, and bigoted comments, but other than that, it’s been swell 🙂 Vamos!

  56. TBH Portugal is a really good team talent wise, have good to best players in each position barring a world class striker. Modern fullbacks,creative mid and defensive mid, and good wingers

  61. I didn’t want to say it.. but portugal are dark horse .. they squad is incredibly gifted. And without Christiana they are playing really good… we should be able to beat any side with our talents. But when u have your main striker missing sitters you have to really wonder and hope now

  62. Portugal much better without Ronaldo they will win this match and next one against Morocco. They are already at the Semi Final along with Brazil they have the easiest route to the Semis

      • Croatia are not as good as 4 years ago , they are Bang Average

        Hate to say it but realistically both Portugal and Brazil are in the Semis

      • Yes there s no caballero also nor sampaoli
        Croatia beat brasil ?? Come on i know that rivalry but you should be realistic
        I don t know but it seems that people here speak with emotion not with their head look portugal they ve benched la diva they re doing great
        With Argentina if you say something about messi everybody will treat you as a brazilian fan
        I have supported Argentina when the majority of you guys weren t in this world how many of you have seen diego playing ??? 2 3 4
        Cause if you had seen him you ll know that team diego were a group of MEN and not a shoeshine group
        Hope lio will be great cause this team seems have no other option than him

    • What’s the length of the contract? 2 years? 400m is pocket money for one of their sheikhs who owns that club. Remember no tax in Saudi, so for the club, gross = net. But underwearboy will have to pay income tax in Portugal probably.

      I am pretty sure he is buying underwearboy to make him go to his little hookkah parties to show off.

  67. I really hope Scaloni knows what he is doing

    Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, France… and now Morocco! They are looking unbelievably strong.

    If we keep having sloppy games and questionable lineups we will find ourselves on a plane back home in no time.

    • Christina is the LOAT – Luckiest of all time.

      I wouldn’t be surprised that he lifts the trophy as a substitute.

      Portugal’s lucky euro 2016 may repeat in Qatar.

  72. very good news. Di maria is very important player for our offense. key player. we need him and i really am happy for the news.
    As about Portugal i hope they win. i don t care for Ronaldo. i prefer to watch good games and a difficult path for England. So i will support Portugal as i did for same reasons Spain.
    a lot of friends here hate Ronaldo but personaly i hate more the senario to see final between England and Brasil. this is equal nightmare to see my beloved Argentina lose and left out from world cup. So i prefer Portugal wins today.

    • Do you prefer watching france win? It seems that you don t know how arrogant they are
      They are saying that mbappe is better than maradona pele messi after pretending that zidane was better than maradona
      Also france is now 2 x champions and they are not a country of football at all without africans
      Imagine if they get the 3rd they will say they re best country of football
      Man i ve never liked brasil nor england but i prefer them to those chicken

      • of course i prefer watch France win. England occupy islands that belong to my country. people die and are burried there. some of them still in cemetery is not recognized yet from 1982. i don t give a damn for French what they believe. they are free to believe whatever they want. As we are too. i support and i will support anybody is against England. this is beyond football.

  76. Di Maria’s return is very good news for us. Though he has not been in his usual form as in Copa and many of the qualifiers, still he is better than many others. Morocco showed the grit and urgency to deal with a quality European side. They kept Spain under constant pressure. With our creativity gone from the mid-field and Dybala not being considered anyway, we have to play similar pressing continuously with right replacements at the right time. Scaloni needs to plan his starting XI accordingly. Instead of just keeping Alvarez to do the running, there should be a second one to keep Netherlands defence in a super hurry to clear balls. You give them time, they would float excellent balls into our box and then there is Gakpo & Co. to take care of them.

  79. Ronaldo dropped to the bench not good advantage for Swiss , with him on the pitch would have fro Swiss
    Cuz Ronaldo doesn’t offer anything now days

  80. Spain isn’t overrated, this is the world cup boys. Where anything can happen and dreams can come to reality. You have to give credit to Morrocco for staying disciplined throughout the match.
    I’m happy for them, and I am sure they can beat either Portugal or the swiss next.
    Let’s worry about our boys now.

  81. This is the year an African team finally makes the semi final. The goalie guessed right on every one of Spain’s penalties. I am hoping for a Swiss Morocco quarter but we’ll see what happens

      • It’s like the nature and history of the keepers during close range saves. Means if it was Ederson going wide could be better and we all know the reason🤭. If it is emi or Alison hitting in the middle of the goal would be better. Coz they would go for the dive mostly.

  90. So tell me all of you sucker here. What was all the point about 6-0 or 7-0 and exciting football? They got kicked ! You lot was dying over Spain.

  91. Karma hits Spain. U send Germany back home and lost to avoid Jaws of Brazil. Where does it take them. Back home… Adios Amigos…who will take out Portugal now… Only for taking out Portugal i wanted Spain to win…

  93. Spain is OVERRATED, Underachieved at every World Cup they played in except for when they won in 2010. 1990 (R16), 1998 (group stage), 2002 (Qtrs), 2006 (R16), 2014 (group stage), 2018 (R16). Plus got eliminated in the group stage in back to back World cups 1978 and 1982.

    Spain’s track record at the World Cup suggests they will be eliminated by Morocco or in the Qtrs.

    • Montiel might not look as dynamic as Molina interms of pressing forward and overlapping with Dimaria or Messi but when defending deep he is a lot safer option than Tagliafico and Molina. Last match if it was Montiel was in the right side he would have made sure the last min aerial ball would be blocked. He is willing to put his body on line and even foul the player and get booked but he will not get beaten like Tagliafico did who had the ball stolen from under his nose. However for Sevilla he has been quite error prone but he is not easy to beat thats for sure!

  96. Scaloni’s love with Montiel will eventually kill us at this WC. I was hoping he got a red card in the last few minutes of Australia’s game, so that he can be suspended.

  98. I like this Morocco team, excellent defense, great team spirit, super disciplined, there is a clear idea on ehat they try to do. would nice to see an African team at semi.

  99. I want to see 5 at the back if ADM can’t play.
    Dibu
    Molina romero otamendi lisandro acuna
    De paul enzo macalister
    Messi alvarez

    Even if di Maria can play might prefer this formation because we can hold teams to 0 goals. Think it will be needed against brazil because with 4 defenders I dont think we can stop them from scoring.

  100. Dont see why people (including me) was bashing arg midfield against ozzies ………if the other team sit back like a bunch of turtles you cant make things happen……Spain have a better midfield than we do but cant make shit happen in this game

  101. Can anybody point out to any reason of why a neutral would like Spain? They play the most boring stale paint drying action football of all time and have absolutely no X factor in their team other than Pedri. Even England are a more entertaining side than this Spain.

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