Lautaro Martínez comments on his penalty, Argentina and the referee

By
Roy Nemer
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129

Lautaro Martínez commented on his penalty against Netherlands, the Argentina national team and the referee.

Martínez was brought on as a substitute for Argentina in their penalty shootout win vs. Netherlands and scored the decisive penalty which sent Argentina to the semi finals of the World Cup. Speaking in an interview with TyC Sports, here is what he had to say:

“The truth is that yes, I got a decisive penalty, like at the Copa America. In that walk, I was very calm because I am confident in my work, I work for that. I want to get better every day and bring joy to the people that are watching us.

“I thought of my daughter who was born during the pandemic and changed my life. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don’t but I deserve to be here.”

In regards to the referee:

“Some of the decisions were weird but that is for other people to talk about. We played and we didn’t deserve to go to penalty kicks. We have a great goalkeeper and he showed it.”

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129 Comments

      • Karl, they are north African arabs. Total different style than the Asian arabs not only in culture but in futbal style. They are highly influenced by Spain/Italy/Portugal because of their proximity.
        Libya plays Italian style, unfortunately for them they have no funding because of corruption. Algeria-morroco-tunisia play a style influenced by Spain.

      • This is such a bad comp that it is CRAZY.

        This Morocco side is very good both technically and tactically. Look at their players – like Hakimi, Mazraoui, Ziyech, Arambat, Bono, El Nesyiri, Ounahi etc. Some of these guys are REAL world class players that we would want to have in our squad. Their coach is also tactically smart and as an unit this Morocco team possesses the same kind of mentality that our Argentina team possesses.

        Comparing these guys to the Saudis is like saying Argentina is some better version of Bolivia team.

    • Morocco, what a revelation!! They are just missing a good finisher. Their goal keeper, defense, midfield, especially the wings are superb.

      On the other hand, what a player Bruno Fernandez is!! A complete modern midfielder.

  7. I am relieved that we won! Almost a mini heart attack with the last minute goal in normal time with a routine which caught us off-guard, so it’s good in a way to be prepared for more of those!
    I stand with emi for protecting MacA who was intentionally elbowed, but Paredes he was stupid to have shot at the bench and lucky that it didn’t hit anyone else would have been a red card and a worse result.
    Scaloni should make the team understand the difference between passion and stupidity and also to prevent on field incident which in turn will increase the add-on time!
    Hope we can play and win within 90min against Croatia to prevent us getting fatigued!
    Also like Scaloni strategy to win within normal time only for players to mess it!

  8. Apart from giving countless heartaches, I just can’t find an explanation as to why our team loses composure after conceding one goal. One goal, and we start panicking, start losing balls, can’t control the balls, we stopped closing the spaces, I mean it was absolute pandemonium. And I see this trend throughout the tournament. Against Saudi we had a one goal cushion and Saudi just took full advantage of us choking under pressure. All of a sudden there was no co-ordination, no urge to press forward and finish the game in full time. Of course the referee wasn’t helping either, but the match should have been finished within 90 minutes. I almost lost faith after those two goals, but then Argentina had the best passage of play during the extra time. There was purpose in the passing, they lunged forward, and created a number of chances. Enzo reminded me of Batigol hitting the post/crossbar in that 98 game. And eventually Dibu showed what he is capable of..It was a different sort of Argentina that we saw post stoppage time who showed that they were morally not down and capable of staging a comeback. But we may not get this liberty in the next game, if we continue to panic and be a nervous wreck against Croatia. I wrote in this forum before that conceding a goal isn’t a crime, but dropping the shoulders or just succumbing to the pressure even while we have a lead is simply criminal. Fight on brothers…that’s the only way we will go all the way. Don’t sit back and give an inch to your opposition until the game is finished.

    • And then replacing Acuna, Romero, De paul all in such quick succession? It was the first occasion I cursed Scaloni for the changes he made, and as a lot of our Mundo brothers pointed out here, it did give a Deja vu feeling of 2006, with Riquelme taken off and being replaced by Cambiasso. And Pezella looked clumsy and extremely fragile at the back, there is no way we can field him in the next match.

  9. I’m 30 year old Argentina Fan from India.
    Been here in this forum since 2011. Not very active, multiple accounts..

    My first World Cup was 1998. I never liked Netherlands for that reason. But don’t hate them like I hate Germany.

    But getting addicted to Argentina at the age of 5 or 6 is different, many changes their affection when growing up.
    I had every reason to stop liking Argentina, because we never won anything in those days. We were symbol of disaster. How many kids will stick with serial losers.?

    With all these, 10000s of Non Argentinians continued to love Argentina. I feel, the biggest factor which kept me with Argentina is Riquelmi. I loved him. We worshipped his romantic football, even though short lived.

    I think for every Argentina fans all over the world of my generation, especially non Argentinians, Riquelmi is not just a name.. it’s an emotion. It’s a feeling. It’s love. It’s sadness.

    Guys, I cannot explain how much emotional I got when I come to know messi did that Riquelmi Pose.

    Vamos Vamos Argentina

    • I never thought there was someone else that share the same view as me i love riquelme i even name my son after him he was ver underrated almost took Villarreal to a ucl final Argentina biggest mistakes was not including him in the 2002 team and 2010

      • For me too, Riquelme was the one who reinforced my passion for Argentine football. He was one of a kind. Though we lost in the quarter, he and his team are still highly regarded among football fans and pundits. Really surprised to see Messi’s Riquelme-like post-goal celebrations.

  10. Among all QF team Argetina has lowest xG conceded. Croatia has one of the highest.

    Against Croatia, we will get chances. Their goalkeeper is good, so we need to be clinical.

    Argetina is just behind Brazil and France when it comes to xG created.

    When you calculate created/conceded ratio Argentina is the best team of wc when it comes to xG.

    We need to minimize personal errors. A better game management when defending the lead. In copa final, brazil did not know anything better than dribble and shoot. European teams have options which is clear from QF match. Croatia can cross and head too.

    Another thing is in last wc, croatia was very good coming from behind, they don’t give up and Modric can up the tempo in second half.
    So Holland game was a valuable lession and we must learn from it.

    • Argentina have the best defense in the world. It used to be Brazil but once he changed to 4-2-4 and now Tite is out, ours is the best now. Netherlands defense is overrated. Of course they had the best defense when meeting the likes of Gibraltar, Latvia, or Wales or something like that.

      Take the match yesterday, our first team defense got them no chance at all for 82 minutes. Only when Cuti, Acuna, and De Paul are out, they started to attack us. Once Cuti and Emi are back in super saiyan mode like in Copa, then our defense would be even better. They are getting there though. Molina has turned into one of the World Cup best right backs. Acuna has been lively too positioning wise.

      • Actually during 81 min mark, I said to myself there is no way Holland can score, just 30 seconds later they scored.

        Our left side was weak at that moment, they took advantage. In 4 man defence, Holland striker would have been marked by Otamendi and it would be no problem.

        Croatia attack is weak. The battle is in midfield. That battle will be started by our forward line pressing. Modric drops the deepest, he must not be given the time and space De Jong had.

        • I think the first Dutch goal is the only goal conceded by us that could have been defended better as an unit. But the second goal is a result of chaos which started from the STUPID foul we conceded. No coach can plan these like no coach can plan defending Messi’s Mexico shot or Saudi’s goals. Those are like noise in a dataset.

          We have THE best defense + midfield system to stop opponents creating chances of shooting from inside the box. This is the hallmark of a well organized and coached team. However, however good the organization of the defense and midfield is, individual players quality increases the outcome of a better result. For instance, Romero would have been smarter than the dude who fouled to know not to foul there in that moment.

  11. This fucked referee booked the whole team now we re gonna have a semis like 90 italia if we go to the final we re gonna miss 4 or 5 starters hope lio will be more wise and will have more self control against modric and co we all know that modric is a fuckin messi hater after all the shame that lio did to him. So he should control himself i don t want a final with dybala.
    And after all his statement yesterday the fifa could bann him or just boycott him as they did in copa 19 and everybody knows what they did to diego in 94

  12. The whole football fraternity is in awe of the support Argentina have been getting in the stadium as well as around the world. As the tournament has progressed they are gaining new fan base by the day.
    But what our players did yesterday has done a lot of damage to the national team’s image.
    Being tough is not being rowdy. Parades is an ultimate a******. He was crappy as shit and it was instant karma for him as the Dutch turned it around. Emi Martinez’ antics were unwarranted. And Messi of all people didn’t need to do that. Champion sportsmen don’t do that
    They should have beaten Van Gaal on the pitch to make him eat his words but we botched and despite his team losing we let him off the hook. Infact he had the last laugh coming from behind and making it miserable for us.
    you have Almada, Correa and Dybala on the bench. Any one of them is tailor made for a 2-0 situation. The 2 goals we scored against both Australia and Nederlands we earned it and we deserve for simply working hard for it. They didn’t give it to us on a platter. They made us sweat our asses for it. So when we have the upper hand we should make their lives miserable and make them harder for it. Instead poor management handed the gun to them voluntarily and sat like ducks for the taking. The first goal we scored was against 7 or 8 men defending. The second against 5 or 6 men. At 2 nil they can’t do that they have to come out of their caves so for our next attacks we’ll have very little men defending. So simple logic is to attack them more and the chances will keep presenting. Scaloni…oh Scaloni. How long will you continue to damage the hard work players are putting on the field. Van Gaal made a bitch out of you.
    Lautaro go watch a video of Alvarez and try to do half the work the kid does. you are brought on to press and make their defenders life miserable but you made ours miserable with ur stroll in the park attitude.
    For those of you who think Dybala cannot perform because he hasn’t played with the team enough here’s to u. Alvarez has played only about 10 games yet he is our best forward here, Enzo what less than 5 games for us? he is our stand out midfielder. Mac Allister less than 10 games but he is helping us big time. They were not part of the 36 games unbeaten run
    But does it matter? Hell no. where are the pretty tattoo loving WhatsApp group boys the pillar of the team now? Where is Lautaro, who we all said has the best strike rate with the Nt after Bati? We said he was untouchable. The world cup is a different bitch. Heroes are made there egos are shattered here. The guy who scored two beauties against us plays in Turkey, would we pick anyone if they play in Turkey? The unknown kid who nearly became hero for Australia plays in Australia, yet we laugh at our players if they play in MLS. The guy scored a beauty for Cameroon to beat Brazil plays in Saudi. No we’ll only pick players from said leagues even if they are only washing dishes there. We’ll only pick players on sentiment and not on merit. AFA needs to revamp big time to continue competing at the highest level.
    And lastly, Parades thinks he is a big thing since he won the copa. but his performances since then have been mediocre and sadly we don’t have much options and hence he is here and for what he did yesterday he should be reprimanded by the AFA after the tournament.

    • Honestly, since Enzo and Mac stepped up, Parades doesn’t belong to the eleven anymore. The question is whether he deserves a seat on the bench. I have never been a fan of this guy- not for his attitude, unnecessary yellows, lazyness and stupid defensive laps. These kind of players can cost you a tournament.

  13. Guys, as i am croat i thinkk that i am probably most capable of determinate croats squad. Well, i cant belive that we didnt learn from our last encounter with them. Again we talk about clear win and so on. They are very very good. Gk is ok, defence terrifing strong (guy with mask is world class), midfielders are argubibly best in world, attack nit so good. Overall we are not stronger. We should be humbe and not speak too much.this will be nail beatting game for sure

  14. Can we play Licha in left back for next game? Because Acuna is out. I think it’s possible. Also Montiel is out so Foyth is needed to be prepared for next match.

  15. Netherlands game is done and dusted. We have two more games to become world champions. So let’s concentrate on the semi finals now. I feel we need a fit and robust DiMaria as a starter for the finals. Better not start him for the semi finals. He can come in as a super sub against Croatia.
    We should go back to 4:3:3

    Dibu
    Molina Romero Otamendi Lisandro
    De Paul Enzo McAllister
    Dybala Messi Correa

    After the 60 minute mark, we should unleash DiMaria in place of Dybala and Alvarez for Correa

  16. Once you defeat the opponent, the war is over. It was sad to see some lack of sportsmanship from our team. Netherlands continuously provoked us and the referee was a crazy one but we made them pay a price on the field. That was enough. What Paredes did by shooting at the reserve bench, how the whole team mocked the Dutches after Lautaro’s penalty, how Messi asked an onlooker to shut up, how Messi walked up to Van Gaal, the altercations that Aguero landed up with – IMHO they were all avoidable. We could have set much better examples. So many youngsters idolize Messi and now his Argentine teammates. Off-field retaliation does make no player great. As more and more videos emerge on the aggression we showed towards the vanquished does do no good to our team’s image. We won the match. All their taunts and screams were answered. We can criticise Scaloni for his strategy or lack of it, his replacements, his game reading so on and so forth, but he kept himself away from all these nonsense. Respect.

    • Where do you see this?? I saw the Dutch being so disrespectful, the fouling was awful,targeting to break Messi was horrible. The Auzzies did the same.

      And don’t forget van gal was disrespectful before the game.

    • I agree we really needed to keep our composure. I’m not saying it was right, but I think that the Dutch players were really getting under our players skins. One guy looked to have twisted Messi’s nipple at one point. I also agree that the ref lost control of the game. I think VanGaal talked a lot of crap before the game as well and that irritated some players. Water under the bridge now, time to move on and think about Croatia.

    • I agree with the part that we should respect our opposition, which I have seen Scaloni mention in every press meet which is a sign of maturity.
      Trash talk can make a lot of people dislike us and one important help we have is the large fan base.
      Play with passion and avenge the defeat of2018. Vamos!!

  17. The free kick combinations when the Netherlands equalized is nothing new for us. It looks pretty revealing compared to Zanetti’s 1998 goal against England.

  18. Parades and Tagliafico should never play again in this WC after their horrible performances over last 4 games. When they were introduced , Netherlands scored 2 goals and all of a sudden we looked fragile defensively and in the midfield. Scaloni also didn’t help by taking off Cuti Romero.

  19. All you people who was saying bad thing about Scaloni. You was saying he is shit and swearing. Now you all need apologies here. He outsmarted Van Gaal almost in 90 minutes even in extra time. If our player hold their emotions right way then we would have win in normal time. The way he took De Jong away from the game was phenomenal.

    • Yes, Scaloni done better. But his defensive approach is making us in trouble.
      Everybody should remember Argentina never defeated Netherlands in 90 minutes regular time. Never. We were very close to that.

    • Yes Scaloni outsmart Van Gaal. He has a valuable lesson for the rest of his coaching career though. He should never sub his key players until near the injury time such as Cuti or Acuna or De Paul no matter what. I thought 2-0 was safe, everyone thought the same I guess but it wasn’t. If Cuti replacement was Licha, that’s different story. They are the same level, but if his replacement is Pezzella, it is 100% downgrade, therefore putting his team in danger. Pezzella can’t play in important matches such as semi final or final of the WC. In Copa he played because we had yet to unlock Licha Martinez, but not now.

      • Let’s not all forget! The reffing was bad, the way the Dutch constantly fouled Messi especially after they scored van dyke should if had a red.

        Luckily we won’t have the same ref in the next game.

      • If you want to give credit to Scaloni then give it to him when it is due. But thoughtless brain dead eulogy of Scaloni is irritating, especially after a game like this.

        Scaloni deserves a credit for fielding a 5-3-2 in the first half and letting LVG to swallow his own medicine. We allowed the Dutch to hold the ball but kept them at bay in the midfield. Our player selection was perfect.

        Then it came to the reminiscence of 2006. He took out our one of the most important players: not one but there. DePaul, Romero, and Acuna. Not just that, he brought in the stupid Parades and the dead horse Pazella. The outcome can be debated but the ones that nobody can debate are:
        1. Two unnecessarily yellows for each of parades and Pazella
        2. One give away free kick in the dangerous area leading to the last minute goal by a joint masterpiece of these two.
        3. The f..ing attitude of Parades, galvanizing the Dutch and portraying a picture of Argentina some supporters will not be proud of.

        Apart from that, as some others have mentioned, Scaloni didn’t learn a thing from the Australia game and the game from Portugal-Swiss that you do not get defensive trying to defend a 1/2 goal lead. This has been typical Scaloni characteristics since day one. It’s in his DNA. Everything we earned through sweat and labor was almost going through the drain. All Scaloni achieved in 70 mins were almost undone in just 20 mins – Yes, because of Scaloni.

        Had we lost in penalty, you all would have been talking to him as if he is the reincarnation of 2006 Pakerman. So, stop eulogizing Scaloni when it is not due. It almost gave many of us a heart attack.

        • Agreed he nearly costed 2 games in a row as in this WC’s KO’s, but luckily he and mistly Arg was saved by Arg’s great players, but if Arg would had lost everyone would realize why was that ? Scaloni must reallybadlyband very quickly to understand the way how to defend your lead as if u are up to 2-0 until the 80th minute u can’t think that the game is over as he said in his oveview clearly speaks more than clearly that he does not understand that the game is never over until it is over period as btw he has allways finished his lead’s in this way as defending way too deeply u just ending up giving opportunities after another to your opponent as Scaloni is more than lucky that his players saved him and more importantly Arg !

      • I understand your point, I think in the case of acuna he was already on yellow and we were coming under more pressure, with Cuti it’s fairly understandable as more aerial threat was introduced from Holland then De Paul had run his heart out and is apparently carrying some kind of injury? There is some logic here from Scaloni at least. I think sometimes these outcomes are inevitable (that they would score) especially when they see +10 added what a boost the ref gave!

      • I understand we gone defensive in last 20 minutes to lock the game because of that Netherlands came back to the game. Cuti was carrying a yellow card, De Paul wasn’t 100% himself also I believe those players was enough to see off the game for us but they didn’t. Our players got emotional it had almost cost the game. Lesson had been learned to be honest. I agreed with you all that we can’t do this in next game go defensive to lock the game when there is ample of time left In game. However I believe Croatia doesn’t have that many tall players to use long ball tactics like that. Also referee played BIG factor in that game. That fucker almost cost us game. He was fucking stupid. He shouldn’t officiate anymore international game at all let along in world cup. Agreed with you all that against Croatia we can’t do this they will make us pay. Their midfield is top midfield in the tournament I think

  20. I just rewatched the match and I focused on all of the Dutch goals.
    1. The first goal. MacAllister was late marking Berghuis who sent the cross from the right. Then Licha was not marking Weghorst tightly. So MacAllister and Licha should have done better. Every Argentine knew that the Dutch had only one strategy: Sent long balls and put tall people, so MacAllister had to mark the one who would send the cross tighter. Licha had to be in front of Weghorst not way behind him and gave him such free header.

    2. The second goal. Pezzela fault as everyone knows giving away that silly soft foul. Then during the free kick, it was Enzo fault as he lost his concentration. He even went away to the right thinking of helping the right side defense, but one of this teammates (I think Paredes) told him to stay there. So Enzo stood there along with 3 Dutch players who acted like a fake wall. In the end Weghorst again receiving the ball, Enzo was not ready for it and Dutch scored. So it was Enzo’s fault too here. He should have anticipated all possibilities of what the Dutch might do.

    In the extra time, the same Enzo made a crucial block tho. But before that block, it was Paredes making that mistake. A Dutch player sent a cross but Paredes tried to get the referee’s help by saying he got fouled, but there was none. As a result, Paredes just stood there doing nothing and just watching. Enzo finally came up with that huge block and Otamendi with the second block.

    All these little things we need to improve. Also no need for Paredes to kick the ball to the Dutch bench that got us 10 minutes injury time because of the small fight.

    Last but not least, my stats showing that we conceded 0 goal with Acuna on the pitch, but conceded 7 (SEVEN) goals with Tagliafico on the pitch in the last 16 matches. Yesterday both goals we conceded were when Tagliafico was on the pitch. He really needs to improve for us.

    Also Cuti won a lot of aerial duels against the tall Dutch players. That’s why we suffered a lot when he was taken out.

    The Dutch bread and butter was their right side offense. Dumfried was nullified, but others did the damage from there. They looked pretty dangerous from the right. And they targeted our left side defense (Licha, Tagli, MacAllister).

    • First, Mac Allister was on two players. We don’t know which player will move forward. So he needs to be in the middle. Then Lautaro came close to one player and the ball was moved to the winger. That time only Mac Allister moved to the winger. The guy immediately put in a cross. I don’t think it’s a late move.
      If Allister had moved before to the winger, the other guy would have run forward and Mac Allister will be stuck with the winger. And you will say, Allister was marking the wrong guy.
      Lautaro should have been done better there. Alvarez was doing that.

      Everybody was praising Dumfries before the match but he was completely Zeroed by our left side.

  21. Netherlands fans say, Paredes should have been red for that hit. Yellow for tackle and another yellow for hit.
    They forgot how Timber is still on the pitch. And they wanted Paredes OUT..!

  22. You know that in football nothing is 100% guaranteed. When we concede a goal, we often tend to become negative, doubting the ability, as well as the spirit of this team. The important thing is that we get better every game. Before the referee blows the final whistle, anything can happen. Those are the risks we take when we let others push us. A shot that hits the foot and changes direction… An airplay that you have a 99% chance of winning before, or a free kick that we expected but was a bit behind the opponent. We shouldn’t blame the team for not being able to do better. They gave it all. Win or lose, we should support the team. We hope in the end luck will be on our side as our team has played better than the opponent. The only thing we can hope for is that after a few days off, the main players will be in the best shape for the remaining 2 matches.

  23. Argentina were only Adidas representative in last 8
    England, Brazil, Croatia Portugal and France sponsored by Nike Morocco is sponsored by puma, can you imagine how happy Adidas are to have Argentina as thier team

  24. As per Sofascore and Whoscored, our top 5 players until now;

    Messi
    Mac Allister
    Enzo
    Otamendi
    Acuna

    Also;
    Alvarez had his moments
    Molina had his moments
    Acuna had his moments
    Emi had his moments
    Lisandro had his moments

    Waiting for others to step up. DiMaria, DePaul, Paredes, Lautaro and Cuti. Surely they played better but waiting for the big moments.

    Tagliafico is the only one, that has chance to start is under performing.

    • Tbf BBC commentaries was praising Alex MacAllister they said you give him the ball around four players still he will manage to find teammates, still though I think MacAllister is decent player definitely not average

      • Last week in a team meeting Scaloni praised Mac Allister saying “he’s a tactically intelligent player.”

        He’s still adapting to a new team. He will improve when he plays regularly. He will get more balls, he will distribute nicely when he knows the team mates more, he will start to shoot when he’s more confident.

  25. Let me tell you pls , the team that sufferers most wins the competition in minute it looks like Argentina will get over the line this time, I believe we will beat Croatia in normal time there nothing spectacular about them yh thier main strengths are their midfielder but I will say arge midfielder edges on thier midfielder without been baised, Scaloni needs go back 433 if arg ever need di maria most is next two games with him Argentina attack looks better and threatening pls don’t let us down with your injuries this time around we can’t keep saying if di maria was fit we would have won this time is your chance to make up your lost Time back 2014.

  26. Why two goal lead isn’t enough for us?! Why the team becomes shaky & mentally weak even scoring two goals first?! This isn’t good, right? We saw same thing today & against Australia too . More mental strength needed to our boys definitely.
    Will miss a lot Acuna, he is really performing consistently in every game.
    Thanks to Montiel for his great shot!
    Romero, Ota & Licha r just beast! Superb..
    Di Maria is must needed in next game.
    Emi is Emi, one of the very best & confident.
    & Scaloni needed to introduce Dybala, Correa in any game in this WC, why not I don’t know the reason.
    & WE MUSTN’T SPOIL a match like this when we already a 2-0 scoreline, be extra cautious in this issue pls!
    My breath was about to collapse!
    Anyway, VAMOS!!! 🇦🇷🇧🇩💪✌️💙

  27. I liked Otamendi’s performance, Enzo and Molina were good. In addition to his pass and his penalty, Leo was exceptional again with his capacity to keep the ball, transition from defense to attack. No player ever played at that level at 35y old. Before the match, I said it would be a draw and Emi Martinez would be the hero in penalty kicks. After 2-0 I really didn’t expect that will finish by a draw .. But I found in additional time we played really well and Scaloni really tried to kill the game. Argentina deserved to win. Huge respect to Lautaro, who have the balls to take the last shot. Very sure of himself, this mindset is really good for the group.

    For the next game, I believe that Argentina will win within 90 minutes. Croatia did their best with what they have and played twice 120 minutes. Modric is not young and their attack is less strong than Netherlands. Our enemy is ourselves, need players continue to attack and to counter press, not just happy to manage the game once we score.

  28. Scaloni is very quick when changing his pecking order. I say 3 players are going down in pecking order because of their performances last night:
    1. Julian Alvarez. He did nothing, at the same time Lautaro is gaining his confidence.

    2. Lisandro Martinez. He was not bad, but he struggled against the Dutch height. Cuti offered much more security. Dutch using an ugly tactic of using tall players and just sent long balls, it worked for them. At least one goal was scored that way.

    3. Leandro Paredes. He was originally very close to be back to the starting line up but his performance last night proved that it is better to keep him as a sub.

    By the way, Molina is not only our best right back. He is one of 4 best right backs in the tournament other than Juranovic, Dumfries, and Hakimi. So please STOP underestimating him. He got 1 goal and 1 assist so far with very limited touch, that means if he sends more crosses/shoots more, he could have more. How many other right backs in all other 31 teams have 0 goal and 0 assist? It is not easy for any right back to score 1 and have 1 assist in the World Cup stage.

    This is the players rating according to TYC:
    Emi 8; Molina 7, Cuti 7, Otamendi 8, Licha 7, Acuna 7; De Paul 6, MacAllister 7, Enzo 7; Messi 9, Julian 7; Paredes 7, Tagliafico 7, Lautaro 7, Di Maria 7, Pezzella 5, Montiel 7.

    According to Ole:
    Emi 10; Molina 8, Cuti 6, Otamendi 8, Licha 6, Acuna 7; MacAllister 7, Enzo 7.5, De Paul 8; Messi 10, Alvarez 6; Paredes 7, Tagliafico 6, Di Maria 7, Montiel 7, Lautaro 8.5, Pezzella 6.

    My rating:
    Emi 9; Molina 8.5, Cuti 8, Otamendi 8, Licha 6, Acuna 7; MacAllister 7, Enzo 8, De Paul 7.5; Messi 9, Alvarez 6; Paredes 6, Tagliafico 6, Di Maria 8, Lautaro 8, Montiel 7, Pezzella 5.

    With that being said, I expect Lautaro-Julian to be 50-50 for the starting spot against Croatia. Safe to say Licha will be back to the bench as Di Maria will start and we will be back to 4-3-3.
    Molina and Tagliafico will start for sure as Montiel and Acuna both will be suspended. Foyth will have a chance to make his debut as Molina’s subs if needed.

    • it is better to play licha as left back instead of tagliafico. i think for ajax licha has played as left back. right now tagliafico is our weakest link.

    • Licha was great until the first goal which should have been saved by Emi in total honesty!! Pezella, Paredes and Tagliafico once subbed in made us really really weak and vulnerable. Scaloni had no option yesterday as Cuti already had an yellow and had to sub in Pezella but he shouldn’t be used if possible. Paredes, this man is in his worst form of his life and Tagliafico is just average and even Montiel is playing better than him.

      • Yeah the first 82 minutes where the Dutch had 0 chance and 0 shot on goal, Licha was good, but then he was targeted by Van Gaal when Van Gaal used the strategy of send long balls, and put tall players. That’s where Licha did not look too good.

  29. I beleive the Saudi lose was good…that made us stronger and cautious, and we respected every opposition since that. Then, We did not take any match silly.
    I beleive goal conceded and goal missed vs Australia was very good, that made us not going over confidence.
    I beleive Yesterday last second equaliser is good, that made Emi and Lautaro back to full confidence mode in Penalties and showed our weakness in defense.
    Everything happened was for good, we struggled, still won. So, No overconfidence, no disrespect to any opponents.

    Waiting for Croatia game. We can’t forget 2018. We will have a great game.

    • Yes, I agreed, every event is connected and made our team to play differently comparing to Scaloni’s initial idea and may lead to a different outcome. Anyway Argentina has always won in this way.

  30. I’m going over all the after-match interviews and incidents. I do not like the cockiness and arrogance Argentina is showing. Emi cussed out the Dutch, “I effed you twice B***h!” The NT celebrating in front of crying Netherlands player. Messi lashing out during an interview and speaking against the ref.

    The “us against the world” mentality has to stop. Let’s remain humble and win the cup. The ugliness started with Emi standing over the Dutch player and then Paredes kicking the ball at the bench (should have been a red card). This is foolishness! Let the Dutch talk and handle your business on the field professionally. We need to be diplomatic, keep calm heads, and stay focused. We haven’t won anything yet, so cut the B.S. and act like real men, not brats.

    Don’t give FIFA an excuse to give the cup to “good European boys” because they can instruct the next ref to give out the red and we don’t want another 1990 Germany incident.

    • What are you talking about, they have been calm all this while. If not because of the referee antics, they would not have been frustrated. The dutch team can say anything they want not try to provoke our players it was totally uncalled for. Van gal that man should get mental help. He just retired and still say things like “I am not defeated today” it is obvious that he has a personal vendatta against argentina.

      • @MESSIARGWEGOAL What do you mean what am I talking about? Did you see Emi stand over a Dutch player on the ground? Did you see Paredes’ reckless challenges back-to-back, and then he proceeds to kick the ball at the Netherlands bench? In real officiated match he and Virgil get red (Virgil for bumping into him afterward). Did you watch the game? That play gave the Dutch 10 minutes of stoppage time! Did you see handballs for nothing (including Messi)? Did you see Emi telling the Dutch player they got fucked twice? Messi interviewed and upset? Do you know some could have been red card? As silly as this ref was, we got favorable calls too. If you haven’t heard or seen, there’s google.

        That’s what I’m talking about! We need to remain humble, calm, and professional, and finish the job! We have two more matches left.

        • I agree we should have been smarter. Force the referee to give 3-4 minutes only injury time, not 10. We know there is a huge disadvantage in the height. Even mediocre teams with mediocre players could score if there is a 4-12 inches (10-30 cm) difference in height and a lot of players are in the box waiting for the ball. I mean Weghorst is 6’6 (197 cm). Gakpo is 6’3 (190 cm), Luuk De Jong is 6’2 (188 cm), Berghuis is 6’0 (183 cm). When Cuti was out, our tallest players in the back was Otamendi who is 6’0 (183 cm) and Pezzella who is 6’1. If Netherlands kept sending long balls and these 4 are in the box, it is dangerous especially if there were an extra 10 minutes of injury time.

        • They know their jobs. You are the one focusing on all the negatives. They were cursing, provoking and insulting our players. Yes Leo could have been carded that was in the first half in which after the referee went totally mad for any slight touch he gives card. It is like you have not heard about him even in laliga he was the one responsible for 2014 laliga loss of barca to atletico. He canceled Messi goal in the final match against atletico, the match ended in draw in favour of atletico winning the tournament. He later came apologising after the damage has been done. Leo and the team are aware of his nonsense. how can you add 10 minutes as if that was not enough he stopped the match in 13 minutes. He gave card for every silly little offence. Without him we will still have Acuna for the semi finals.

        • I fully agree with the words of wisdom from Wisdom. Felt so warmed up after the win. But after reading all the news and seeing so many videos today, I feel bit sorry. We could have and we should have shown respect for the vanquished irrespective of how they behaved on and off the pitch. This sport is above any individual, any team, any referring errors, any behind the door deals. This sport has given Messi his identity. This sport is giving identity to the Enzos, MacAllisters, Cutis. The sport expected more restraint from the team. It’s not late. The team and Scaloni should make a statement that going overboard with their post-match reactions was not the best thing that they did yesterday.

      • No, but you act professionally and remember that you are playing for the 70K+ fans that paid and for the millions of fans supporting you. The game is bigger than silly Dutch talk. Paredes started the fight btw.

    • I agree to some point, but there is so much shit one can take! The Australians were playing rough with dirty fouls and the Dutch were doing the same… the referee added 10 minutes extra time… it gave the Dutch 17 extra minutes to score an equaliser from there 83rd minute goal.

      Must say something about the bad referring

      • Not that my opinion matters, but the best player in the world doesn’t have to confront an opponent team manager in his face about what he had to say about the Argentina Team prior to the game or what his boys did during the game. Enough was said and done on the field. And we were the better team on the field so we won. Wasn’t that enough? And with what Paredes did, he was damn lucky not to be shown the red card.

    • It seems like you are totally unaware of the bullshit talking Dutch team and their coach has been doing before the match and during the match they were swearing at every Argentina player on the field. Now they are saying Messi should have gotten second yellow for handling the ball when the whistle was clear blown already. Messi and 10 average players. Molina is weak and nervous. Etcetera Etcetera. So before bashing us do some research.

  31. Messi is in very good physical shape. Dutch player could not outmuscle him and he looked faster than previous games.

    Macalister is very good at holding the ball. You can put 2 players on him, he will be able to pass the ball to next man.

    Acuna will be a miss. Croatia rb played a very good game. Tagliafico hasn’t had a good wc so far. I hope that he steps up.

    I think 4-3-3 is enough for us. In 3-5-2, our midfield looked vacant and players were far apart than usual.

    They could play long ball, because there was no pressure from Argentina forwards. Once we pushed up in extra time, Dutch threat was gone.

    We failed to close the game in R16 and QF. We won’t be lucky every time. You can be defensive while maintaining offensive threat. We allowed Dutch to do everything until they got their equaliser. It can’t happen again.

  32. Two positives from the shootout were that Dibu quickly regained his confidence after having conceded two unnecessary goals, and Lautaro also regaining (or elevating) his confidence. It will be like we have rejuvenated our striking force now. I was also impressed by the collective grit and ambition to attack in extra-time, despite letting in a goal so late. That indicates mental strength of the team, which will be valuable in the two last games when all the remaining teams will have tired bodies.

  34. And it feels like that lo celso injury was a blessing in disguise. Yes I am a big lo celso fan but If lo celso was in the team then I don’t think macallister or Enzo would have played like this with chemistry or got included in the team. I mean now de Paul is not 100% and it is sure that lo celso is not a 90 minute player. I think players with stamina and good defensive stability is more useful in these knock out phases especially against physical teams. We had seen a lot lo celso losing his sharpness and creativity as the time goes by during a match. But macallister, my god he just amazed me with his grit stamina and fighting spirit. As insider mentioned he is the player who plays fully according to what coach instructs. He knows his limitations but he is ready to give it all for the team. It’s not all Messi. It’s more than that. And for the glory it’s the right thing we want.

  35. Even though Lautaro is not in form, his confidence level is very high. He was very calm when taking penalty.

    Read somewhere, he was asking Scaloni to include him as one of the taker.

  36. Argentina team looks tame compare to their usual self since begining of this tournament but they suddenly played without fear in the extra time and maintain similar atittude throughout the shootout. Once again thanks to bias refereeing.

    Netherlands and the ref might have awaken the beast inside us. I could see similar change in attitude like when Varzil won that semi in 2019. This could be the turning point for us aswell.

    Look at all our penalty takers and Dibu , they’re so ready and makes it looks like a training session.

  37. A football nation where footballers had legendary hairstyles like Batigoal Golden jesus like hairstyle. Hernan Crespo, Ortega, and Sorins legendary long hair locks and ofcourse Zanettis tidy executive hairstyle which he still maintains, Veron Mascherano and Cambiassos clean bald looks, Riquelmes tidy short hair cut, Tevezs long hairstyle to cover his legendary scar, and ofcourse the legendary Maradona and Aimars curly locks.

    Did anyone saw Guido Rodriguez hairline while celeberating the win vs Netherlands. 😂😂😂😂😭😭😭 Even Rodrigo palacios the divine rat tale looks great next to guidos hairline.

  38. Semifinals. Argentina won and Brazil lost. What a perfect day though half of it was painful. Come on Morocco tomorrow, and I’m already relishing thinking about England France. I’ll be so happy no matter who loses. Let’s hope for an extra time to tire them out and lots of yellows and perhaps suspensions. I can watch them suffer peacefully. Great time to fall asleep now. Great day.

    • You see sometimes you can’t just expect weak teams to win. The best example is Japan-Croatia, had Japan won, Brazil would have kicked their ass 4-0 and met us in the semis. The same as Marocco-Portugal tonight. Deep inside I can’t support CR7 team but Portugal would give a tougher match for the winner of England/France than Marocco.

      • depends on team , if it is france then i want portugal. if it is england then i want morocco. how so ever shit player ronaldo has become but i will still worry about him final.

    • Good thing while we has played one extra time , Croatia has gone to extra time twice.

      Brazil decided to lose because they’re so scared of Argentina just like when we made them quit in qualifier haha

      They’re only good playing against lesser opponents and doing silly banana dance.

    • Oh man I am SO sad that I won’t likely see that dance again starring Tite for the rest of my life. They already won the grammy awards for the ugliest dance of all time anyway. Wish I could watch more..

    • We led every single matcha conformtably so far, it’s Scaloni who bottled it. We also went into Penalty last copa for the same reason.
      A couple of WQ before copa, we conceded for the same reason. When we get deeper into the tournament, other teams are getting stronger, this tactics almost failed us today again. Don’t be another Pekerman, or Bielsa, I have watched enough of these for the past 20 years!

    • Yep, after 2-0 up, we only had 2 players upfront and the rest was inviting Netherlands to score. Obviously at some point we;re going to conceided. Its also how we played in previous matches.

      Instead trying to look for 3rd and 4th goal, we’re backpedalling and allowed opponents to have the ball.

      My biggest worry would be Scaloni keeps doing this because he thinks it gets him to semifinal …. while in reality we would have been cruising easily in last 2 games if wasnt that dumb negative football.

  41. Lautaro must be a relived man. Look at what he was thinking while walking for that kick. Real human emotions and ones character will actually come out when playing any sports under pressure.Surviving those pressure and winning are stuffs legends are made off.

    I think all our penalty takers took their kicks really well even though Enzo missed. I like Paredes kick and placement the most.In Paredes, Lautaro, Montiel, Macallister & Dybala, we have a good set of 5 Penalty takers add to that the young Enzo Fernandez who have good long range shoats. Our penalty takeing options look safe for some years to come. Add to that we Emiliano who will mostly save 1 or 2 penalties. It makes the Penalty takers job easier.

    Saying of which Messi should always take Penalties with this same technique. Even though he shoat at the left of the GK during the normal time penalty. It was still fast and and accurate even with only 1 or 2 steps to accelerate the shoat. Its the opponent GK movement based kick where he can change the direction in last moment. Rather than blasting the kick to the left of the Goal kepper. This technique suits his style and magician status.

  42. Next Match I think Di Maria should play on the left but I am not sure how as M. Alister plays the left side too. I don’t mind to play Foyth too, I don’t trust Tagliafico. Do you have some solution to cover Tagliafico? Such useless player, not good on anything. Do we really not have another other left back?

    Remember in the Copa America final, Scaloni also replaced Romero with Pazella, but luckily Pazella didn’t play horrible that game and Brazil didn’t have another Adriano like in Copa 2004

    • argentina should play 4-3-3 against croatia. play lisandro martinez as left back and molina as right back cuti and otamendi as center back. with midfield of enzo-rdp-macallister in forward it should be di maria ,alvarez and messi. as croatia is not that much of a attacking team it is a good idea to play dybala/correa as a substitute for di-maria + lautaro has got his confidence back so he should be substitute for alvarez. if rdp can not play full 90 min then bring paredes.

  43. Positives: Messi again nailed it. Introduction of Di Maria and Lautaro took the pressure completely back to Natherlands in the Extra time. Argentina looked even better than Finalissimo for the last 30 mins. Molina’s confidence would get a big boost, hopefully. As long as Romero, Licha and Otamendi were there, Netherlands couldn’t create much chance. Depay had to be subbed away. De Jong was kept silent. This Argentina team showed great character even after the referee gifted away the second equalizer to Netherlands. Dibu’s form with the penalty continues.

    Negatives: Bizarre subs decisions from Scaloni continue. Reminded me of Pekerman in 2006 quarters. A bit of it was forced by Acuna seeing his second card. Still I believe his decisions gave away the match to Netherlands in the last 20 mins. Refereeing showed that in next match too Argentina would have to play against 18. Why same continent referee? FIFA needs to think hard about this. Pezzela, Tagli, Paredes have not been good. Even Guido would have been better than Pezzela. He looked shaky. Acuna and Montiel would miss next match. I think the referee had a dagger for Argentina today. But he was not only planning to kill us today, he also had thought about slow poisoning us in case we escaped his dagger. Typically I do not complain much about referees. But today he was blatant. We are still not being able to create normal chances (barring the last 15 mins into Extra time). It was again a Messi magic. That cannot be a game plan of a coach. The height of our defenders is going against us in aerial floaters. The first goal resulted from that and also from the fact that Tagli could not time his jump. It’s extremely scary that he is the only option in next match. Dibu was not good outside the penalties. Ball slipped from his hand once. He should have done better in case of the second goal.

  44. Btw I am glad that Tite and Van Gaal retired from their national team! Brazil and Netherlands are never that strong when someone else handle them but Tite and Van Gaal.

    Alisson reputation as the best GK in PK is ruined completely as he failed to save any in PK shootout. Emi takes that crown. Livakovic and Bouno are a joint second.

    • Hahahahaha, kind of wish the Brazil game was tomorrow so I could enjoy their elimination without stressing about Argentina or fearing for celebrating too soon. This day was so crazy I almost forgot about Brazil. I love it. Everyone sucking up to Brazil, Europeans getting their legs shaking just thinking about Brazil, the big lie of this World Cup.

  45. Some points from the match…
    1) This argentine team has strong mental strength which needs for a champion team. After conceding in injury time rather than collapsed Argentina responded well and dominant well and could have won in extratime.

    2) I always said enzo Fernandez is the best argentine midfielder…one of his good strength is shooting from distance. He’s unlucky yesterday with his stunning shot hit the post..

    3) Despite poor world cup lautaro Martinez shown mental strength and calmly scored in penalty shootout..

    4) Parades was brought to calm things but he did the opposite which create team in unnecessary pressure situation.

    5) when Argentina with comfortable lead they needs to calm down. Do not conceding unnecessary fouls.

    6) Messi is TRUE leader on and off the pitch. He also needs to calm down because Argentina can’t win without him.

    7) Gonzalo Montiel may not be everyone favorite player but defensively he’s better to close the matches . Kudos to Montiel for his goal in penalty shootout.

    8) Very disappointed with taglafico he neither good in attack nor in defense. If there is Nicolas Gonzalez he could have replaced taglafico.

    9) Scaloni substitute Romero forcefully due his yellow card because Scaloni definitely thinking about Croatia match because Argentina can’t afford to lose Romero for this match. German pazzela really disappointed me such experience defender made a foolish mistake just outside the box.

    10) with all due respect to emiliano Martinez with his heroics in penalty shootout he needs save some stunning saves in normal time also.

    • I think Scaloni never thought in his wildest dream that Netherlands AND the referee would make such tactic against us after the 80th minute. That’s why he subbed Cuti and Acuna and De Paul. By 82nd minutes Dutch did not even have a single chance or shot on goal. Scaloni misjudged it. I am sure he will learn from it. He played it super safe so Cuti will not get another yellow, but it almost costed us the game.

  46. The match shouldn’t have been ended this tough. We’re superior to them, but the Netherlands played a very good mind game, and provoked us.

    Again, it’s classic Parades, classic Agentina’s coach mistakes.

    Anyone thinks Dibu is not in a good form except the penalties? I felt at least he should have stopped one of the goals today

  47. i keep chuckling at this…..
    i just can’t believe out all offensive tactics tried by our opponents, our kryptonite is a handful of dutch LOTR Ents pushing the line, receiving a barrage of long balls. Even Van Dyke was in stiker position with midfielders taking his place. You have to give LVG massive props as it completely destabilized our defensive shape. We had no solutions and panicked. i don’t know if anyone other than Otamendi was able to challenge. Love Emi but damn he got it wrong in the last 15 because he kept kicking long balls at the Ents instead of passing it out the back. Total chaos.

  48. Scaloni made the same mistakes Pekerman did in 2006, even worst he made more than 2 bad substitutions. Fortunately luck is on our side today, and we survive

  49. 352 is ideal for knock out stage ,in first 80mins .Argentina played quite well .But the big problem is substitution . Shouldn’t substitute off defenders in such important times. actually pezzela, Paredes didn’t help our defense alot . I would prefer adding Guido instead of paredes.

    Versus Croatia, we miss acuna that is a big issue. Croatia their cooperation and team work is better than Holland. especially their midfield is strong . So I prefer Argentina to play ugly again .which one replace acuna ? tagliafico isn’t good enough..

    Croatia ‘s Right back is very fast ,perhaps we can use dimaria as a left back and left side wingers just like molina.

  50. Even tho we won the game im very worrid of our panic attack. We were in a comfortable position with 2-0 up against aus/ned and thn one goal we go to panic mode. Scaloni and the coaching staff needs to sort this out. We should have played the last 20 mins like we played in extra time. Calm and composed

  51. Why Romero easily got yellow..! Could have done better..that made the substitution..
    What Paredes was doing..! Tackle after tackle..and kicking to the Netherlands bench…?
    What did Pezella done..! Silly, silly..never ever…

    3 match changing, silly, unnecessary moments..!

  52. The referee was awful but I think we benefitted more from his decisions. We got a lot of soft fouls called. How Paredes managed to stay on the pitch is beyond me for the foul and subsequently instigating that altercation with the Dutch bench. For being one of the senior members in the team and considering our situation, he should be more careful. A red card at that time would have been curtains for us. Also Messi should have been carded for the handball but if had so, would not have talked himself to a second one so it would not have mattered a lot.

    That being said, I think the last free kick should have been to us and not the Netherlands. Paredes was fouled first before Pezella bundled over Weghorst.

  53. We will play against one of the best midfields at this WC. Modric-Brozovic-Kovacic are very dynamic and experienced. I hope DePaul can be fully fit by Tuesday. Today we lost control after he went to the bench. Also, ADM has to start next game because we need to keep attacking and possession.

  54. Depauls substitution made so much worries for our team. Pezellas introduction is also a reason. I think scaloni need to bring dmaria little more early

  55. I’ll take a WC win any which way they come. They won it but how costly could this be. Croatia have played 2 120 mins in row and we could definitely have gone fresher without this ordeal. The plus side to this is another lesson to not switch off or think it’s over till it’s over. A bit of confidence to Emi and get players used to penalty pressures.
    I don t believe we should change formations in the middle of a tournament’s but stick to a system and change players to suit the needs of a match. Sadly, that won’t happen because Scaloni the retard never has a system nor dod he try a variety of players during the last 4 years.
    At 2-0 in a knock out you play with more confidence and bring players to stretch the opponents and keep them under the mat and let them have all pressure but heck no I am retard shit Scaloni, I will not learn my lessons, I will take out all my valuable players bring on more defenders give the ball to opponents and ask all my 7 defenders to sit in the box and hand over the advantage to opponents to go for the goals knowing peacefully that Argentina will not go fir more goals but will only defend what they’ve got. I mean why? Why should Argentina suffer at the hands of mediocre and incompetent coaches time and again???why?
    The cruellest thing is in all 5 matches our opponents never looked like troubling us and looked comfortable even when we not very fluent. Poor subs and poor tactics cost us. Against Saudi, we should have taken them by the scruff of the neck but cowardly tactics cost. At least a goal or 2 was there for us in that match.
    Mexico and Poland never had much in the tank.
    Australia nothing to show for and again after going 2 nil, we should have gone for more goals.
    Same yesterday, the Dutch had nothing to offer. Yet we ended up scrapping.
    With a proper coach with the matches and opponents we’ve had, we should have scored at least 3 or 4 goals more than the 9 we have and conceded 3 or 4 goals less. We have conceded 5 goals for no reason!!! These were direct result of us not taking advantage of the situations and going for the kill. But cowardly tactics, poor substitutions and just waiting for things to happen is killing us.
    I also believe We should have controlled our emotions better during and after the match. At 2-0, Emi did unnecessary things that brought the Dutch to life. In the penalties, again at 2 nil up Emi started to act cocky and the Dutch almost made a comeback. Argentina’s celebration and comments could drain them mentally and lose focus. Former French coach Domenech, who visited Argentina recently recounted the Brazil world cup and said Argentina lost that final because they were tired towards the latter part of the match more so mentally than physically not because they played 120 minutes in the semis but rather because of the over the top celebrations after that could have drained them emotionally and killed their desires thinking that that was their ultimate achievement.
    What we have done here with our results in the last 2 matches is that we have given belief to Croatia and whoever we meet later that Argentina will not go for more goals and that we panic even with a 2 goal lead and there is always a chance for them. Van Gall threw big guys into the mix and bombarded us with balls into the box because Australia showed them the way and now Croatia have both Australia and the Dutch to thank for showing them that Argentina are vulnerable with a lead and panic.
    Scaloni please please don’t do anything silly and destroy all the good work the players are doing on the pitch.
    Damn..Messi should have more than the 4 goals he has in this tournament. At least 2 more with proper tactics.

    • Scaloni’s subs were awful but he didnt have much choice. Had to take de paul off because he is not fully fit, had to take romero off coz of the yellow card. Should have bought di maria much earlier. But this is past now. We are in the semifinals!

    • Excellent points. We should not commit the same mistake Brazil has committed. Brazil thought it’s a catwalk against Croatia but Brazil ended up eliminated. God’s grace we are so so near but we must be grounded to the earth. Still we have not won anything but very big chance to go for everything. But over confidence from our players or mediocre coaching staff’s (they have taken us to places no doubt but still feel our coaches are learning students not an experienced and tactically profound mentors ) or unnecessary gestures like what Messi or Otamendi did even if our players think the Dutch started the provoking first will never going to help us anyway. Really hope our players don’t over celebrate the victory and start concentrating the Croatia game with same attitude of one match a time. In the beginning stages we are less confident and afraid of losing but from now especially the next match we must not suffer from over confidence thinking it’s Croatia not Brazil. Really we must lose anything from now on.. first let’s start from not losing our cool.. enjoy the occasion but remember still it’s anyone game.. only that uncertainty gives the concentration and desire.. very Happy for the win.. beg our players please don’t go for any Sex or Self pleasure till the World cup ends.. everything is aligning..be humble and embrace it..all the best..

    • More than fully agreed, though i held the coach responsible for everything so far the players have show’n enough to save him and their own country as Arg too, but all u said about tactical point of side from Scaloni, as sorry i will feel i can only agree more than fully that his crazy tactics to start to defend so deep,y with most of the players and letting opponents constantly sending crosses to Arg’s box is like complete suicide tactics at least for me as u said :

      I don t believe we should change formations in the middle of a tournament’s but stick to a system and change players to suit the needs of a match. Sadly, that won’t happen because Scaloni the retard never has a system nor dod he try a variety of players during the last 4 years.
      At 2-0 in a knock out you play with more confidence and bring players to stretch the opponents and keep them under the mat and let them have all pressure but heck no I am retard shit Scaloni, I will not learn my lessons, I will take out all my valuable players bring on more defenders give the ball to opponents and ask all my 7 defenders to sit in the box and hand over the advantage to opponents to go for the goals knowing peacefully that Argentina will not go fir more goals but will only defend what they’ve got. I mean why? Why should Argentina suffer at the hands of mediocre and incompetent coaches time and again???why?
      The cruellest thing is in all 5 matches our opponents never looked like troubling us and looked comfortable even when we not very fluent. Poor subs and poor tactics cost us. Against Saudi, we should have taken them by the scruff of the neck but cowardly tactics cost. At least a goal or 2 was there for us in that match.
      Mexico and Poland never had much in the tank.
      Australia nothing to show for and again after going 2 nil, we should have gone for more goals.
      Same yesterday, the Dutch had nothing to offer. Yet we ended up scrapping.
      With a proper coach with the matches and opponents we’ve had, we should have scored at least 3 or 4 goals more than the 9 we have and conceded 3 or 4 goals less. We have conceded 5 goals for no reason!!! These were direct result of us not taking advantage of the situations and going for the kill. But cowardly tactics, poor substitutions and just waiting for things to happen is killing us.

      Yes, all this is more less fault from coaching as they should know all this way better than we as fans do !

      Also i agree about players behaving not fully in proper way as they should be as more focused and more or less to stay away from all kind of useless drama which might cost in the end, hopefully not so !

      But, also for this i held the coaching as more or less as responsible as them being old players should know that getting too cocky over things is never doing no one any favors as quite the opposite it may hunt u down as Karma the way or another or the day or another etc…

      ” What we have done here with our results in the last 2 matches is that we have given belief to Croatia and whoever we meet later that Argentina will not go for more goals and that we panic even with a 2 goal lead and there is always a chance for them. Van Gall threw big guys into the mix and bombarded us with balls into the box because Australia showed them the way and now Croatia have both Australia and the Dutch to thank for showing them that Argentina are vulnerable with a lead and panic.
      Scaloni please please don’t do anything silly and destroy all the good work the players are doing on the pitch.
      Damn..Messi should have more than the 4 goals he has in this tournament. At least 2 more with proper tactics.”

      Again i can only sadly agree on what u wrote as this is the very true as all i can say that this can’t be simply repeated for freakin 3rd times in specially KO’s !

      Therefore i truly hope the coaching will do their homework and also that the players will understand that they must be fully focused only for the game it Self as i’m not saying that celebrations should not be made, but there is certain level to everything and all must be done properly as Croatia will be more than happy to look at specially at those 2 latest KO game’s of Arg in row as Croatia has very technical players who are more than ready to send crosses in as they have alao players who can finish them off…

      ” Scaloni please please don’t do anything silly and destroy all the good work the players are doing on the pitch.”

      Yes again agreed on , as sadly this is the way i seen it so far as i’m not blaming the players in fact with their good work Arg has now reached the Semi’s, and have saved their coach’s ass or coaches assess more than once, so there is no simply no place anymore for silly things and clear ERRORS from Arg’s coaching as the players are not machine’s as more or less great individuals who have a great group of players together

      In the end i truly hope that everything u wrote will be truly considered and Re-thinked as a warning, though the first game was allraedy a warning and now the latest 2 KO’s forsure must act also like more than warning as obviously all the positive things as possible should be taken as something to build on, but in the reality Arg has conceded while leading comfortably and instead of killing games off properly with right subs bringing more heat for the opponent, well in fact it has been the quite opposite as u said defending way too deeply, which will only lead to loosing more ball to opponent and giving more chanches for opponent to cross freely in to Arg’s box as this either lead’s to corners, freekicks or goals conceded by Arg as it can easily lead also to penalties for opponent as the ball can hit anyone’s arm at any time and i’m not talking about now of those volleyball moves, which are more than humilating to be honest as i understand do or die mentality too and i will TaKe any win with whatever oerformance as i have waited since with so many others for since 1986, so what ever way Arg may win the WC offcourse i will be more than happy as i can’t even remember anymore how it felt before that famous Copa victory at Maracana !

      But, as u said Arg could had easily done all they have done so far with more or less in more confidence and also instead of suffering towards end’s of the game’s as for example the 2 latest KO’s, they could had even streched their opponents much more, but so far hats off for the players that have performed to book Arg in the semi’s as offcourse there is no easy games in WC, but this Arg team could had been even way more superior to their respectfull opponents, which sorry to say have not really impressed a single bit, so in way Arg has been more than close alkready digging their own grave and therefore i want the coaching them play their players with their full potential, which we all know that this team with theese players have more than in them ! Though as i said if they win WC with what ever way i will TaKe it with more than Open arms and hail them as true Champions, which they deserved to be as great players and a great team, which can be Still coached much more correctly as it is never too Late for that also for the coaching as the players obviously showed that against the Dutch, coming back with great character as i also try to understand the mount of pressure they were having after that very Late equalizer, but again why did that hapoen, well i think more or less because of the coaching as not, because of players, though Pezzelka’s foul was so dumbass misstake from such a experienced player with hardly any time left as that was the very reason why the freekick was given for the Dutch, but what and why was actualky Pezzella on the pitch during that, well that is the question of many that Arg’s coaching must figure out and fix correctly, so that things like theese won’t hapoen again as was the trend in the latest 2 KO’s !

      Please Scaloni and Co. i know that u are more capable of fixing theese things which lead Arg to concede and also i know Arg can be made to score even more if needed, which should be the key to kill of the games or at least remain competive while leading and not just go fully to deffensive mode, please i truly wish for theese things to be corrected so that Arg won’t concede as we all know the lesser game’s left in WC,,well so might also lesser goals scored, though Arg is morecthan capable to score against any team if they just stick to their basic’s and play their game !

  57. We made it..just barely. We simply cannot play like this again.

    Mentally, Croatia is like us..even though their attack is OK but they also play with grit and raw willpower like us…

    It will be a battle of body and the mind…

    Better to keep it to 90 min..and PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NO STUPID FUCKING FOULS IN OUR FINAL 3RD…I MEAN WHAT THE FVCK?

    And Mateus Lahosz can go F a camel for all I care.

    (Sorry had to get it out)

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