Argentina national team to train on Sunday, all eyes on Ángel Di María

1. Is there any news if Di Maria did take part in the training and back healthy and hearty? We saw what his presence meant for Argentina in the Extra time against Netherlands. Messi would find himself lonely against the tremendous defending capability of the Croatia if there is no Di Maria with him. But even if Di Maria plays, he needs to be hard-pressing. Then he can be subbed away around 60-65 with Dybala who can bring in similar creativity.

2. It doesn’t matter how they reached the semis, at this stage every game will be tight, small details will determine the outcome, Croatia will make things very difficult indeed, a close match, we are better, but everything is possible. VAMOS

   • Yes, the worst thing is to underestimate or think that they are not same team as 2018 as i think they might be even better as deffently rising European team not only with those more than well known mid -trio, who in fact look very scary, but they do have an very goid defence too and more than good Goalie+ they have younger players who are taking very important step’s for their career as some are just in their start of their career, but playing allready in WC semi+ players from their own league who are more than capable for subbing in as i don’t see their attack also as their weakness as they play the ball tactically and more over technically with very good quality, indeed as also population i think in Croatia is not more than 3 millions so a bit similar amount than in Uruguay, though Uruguay did not use their full potential as Croatia came through a very strong group and knocked Japan who beat both Spain and Germany+knocked out Brazil too, so indeed a very difficult match is expected and i truly pray that Arg will find out the way to win as if not we might end up watching the very same final than 2018 as in that case i will hope Croatia to beat France as i want Morocco to beat France and more than anything Arg to win it all, but first Arg must win croatia and like i said a hard game is expected as way harder than against LVG’s Netherlands !

3. Well Croatia havent been playing the most exciting football… one can even say if Canada had not scored an early goal then Croatia wudnt have woken up playing attacking football otherwise Croatia prefers playing waiting-sitting back game which eventually cud have struggled to make it past grp. stage. Having said that now they are in Semis so we have to respect this team coz they are one mentally strong unit which doesnt care about any flamboyant display of football but rather getting result in their favour is their only target.

   Well for our Argentina team…From loss against Saudis to come back from almost “being out” tag to reach Semis was not an easy journey too esp. against the Dutch when we were cruising conceding 2 goals, one in dying minutes was unbelievable. Most team wud have lost it from there due to psychological advantage. (Best example wud be “favorites” Brazil losing to Croatia in shootout after conceding dying min equalizer). But no Argentina was mentally strong to fight it out in extra mins going all out with good tempo. Got a glimpse of Argentina in semi top gear attacking mode which is what all of us want to see as Scaloni does have more of a cautious approach rather than full defensive approach. Later, penalty shootout performances of our players proved how focused n mentally strong this side is.

   So in mentality battle we are equally strong or more so compare to this experienced Croatian team. Coz this Argentina team has been under immense pressure since Saudis scored against us, Saudi match was lesson for us, Mexico match was our Test n Poland match was our Test result n we topped the group.

   Now Semis match vs Croatia Argentina shl start with this line up

   ——————-Emi——————
   ——-Molina-Romero-Otamendi-Lisandro
   ———DePaul ——–MacAllister——-
   ——Messi——Enzo———Gomez
   ————-Alvarez————

   As Croatia wont play high tempo game against us so above line up can withstand their attack and we can also have pretty good attacking play. If we get a goal in first half with this line up then good if not then we wud have tired Croatian team who r coming from back to back two 120 mins of football…

   So if we dont score then 2nd Half changes shl be DiMaria, Lautaro, Dybala, Angel Correa, Paredes… This subs not only brings in attacking players who are fast but also assures good penalty spot takers if at all it goes till there which I highly doubt it.

4. Argentina will never take any team for granted or lightly after what happened against Saudi, let alone Croatia which is a very solid team. Just because Croatia haven’t managed to win any matches in 90 minutes against most oppositions doesn’t warrant any safe heaven for our defenders. Lets remember our own strengths and weaknesses before downplaying them. We are a wing back short with no Acuna which kind of corrodes our left flank. Our backline reserves(in the event Romero and Licha are to be subbed) are good enough to give any healthy fan cardiac arrests. We just cannot afford to play a nervous game, it needs to be a solid all-round performance with zero tactical mistakes. Please for god’s sake, don’t just sit back and defend and play for time when you have a lead. That leads to all the nervousness, all the panic.

5. Croatia and Morocco have the most organized defence in this tournament. On top of that they have the magic duo – Modric, Perisic. And their goalkeeper is simply stunning. Scaloni needs to have a solid attacking line to break their defence. They also play a physical football with Modric bringing in some art to that. Di Maria would be needed. But if Scaloni starts with Lautaro instead of Alvarez, that would be another horrible decision. The penalty did good to lautaro, but Alvarez is still needed to do that chasing upfront.

6. For anybody whoever played a sport, when its at the end of the game and you’re tired but the fear and pain of losing is greater than fatigue (mental or physical) AND this is exactly where they are now because there is no tomorrow.
   ARG will not understate Croatia and vice versa but the team is battle-hardened now as opposed to 3 weeks ago and the orange coming back at the end of the game is an extra motivation to not take anything for granted.
   They need to play their game, defend like they did and go from there.

7. Croatia vs Morocco 0-0
   Croatia vs Belgium 0-0
   Croatia vs Japan 1-1
   Croatia vs Brazil 1-1

   The only win for Croatia in this world cup is against one of the worst team of the tournament Canada, that’s 4-1.

   One win and 4 draw. How did they reach Semi final..? Pure luck. Many other teams deserved this spot than Croatia.
   And you worry this team will beat Argentina..?

   • Dont speak bullshit. They are very strong. We are stronger only up in front. They beat france at saint denise 2 month from now. They are playing semis here and semis in europe national league. They are mentally giants and riseing form. I am croat and i know. This is truely 50/50. Kovacic-modric-brozovic are like busquets-xavi-iniesta. We can not afford to do same mistakes like 4y ago. Weak up. We will need to be at our best to beat them. And also some luck. I belive in meswi and his magic.

     • It doesn’t matter how they got here Croatia is horrible team to play against isn’t going to be easy they get used how to play those kind matches having said Argentina will win God willing

       • Croatia is not on the same level of Argentina. Last WC 3-0 was because Sampa Madness.

     • This team is nothing… only luck.
       Brazil had chances, Belgium had, Japan had. This team is nothing compared to Netherlands.
       We will beat them comfortably.
       Defense looks good. But Messi will break that.
       We are strong only Upfront..?

       • Exactlly. Gvardiol (mask guy) is 100 plus mill dollar transfer. Gk is from our national legaue but good and in form. Mids.is just insane. Be awere that this is one game play and that they have just.one lost in 12 matches on this and last wc. I dont know how but they allways shine on big scene. They are so confident and, unlucklly, have nothing to lose which make.them even stronger. 50/50 game

         • they are a great team and nobody is underestimating them.only 2 weakness that they may have is they have not played in lusail before ,therefore they have to handle the pressure of 80000 fans and their last 2 matches were of 120 min.

         • This is the exact BS hype i like to hear before we smash them. They know their limitations reason why they always play it safe until penalties.

     • Yes they are strong but not strong as the ast world cup. we were weak at that time. Now we are 10x times stronger than 2018. Are u saying our midfiled and defense is not good enough. our mid filed is on par with them if not superior. Off course our defense is rock solid. Only 6 shots for the target were made against in this entire world cup. Yes we are underrated. With all due respect to Croatia we are better than them any given day. but should not under estimate them.Modric is not as fast as before or not as danger as 2018. We believe in Scolani. I m pretty confident that he will handle this Croatia with ease.

     • Lol, Croatia mids are now like the prime Spanish/Barca trident ? Come on. Modric wont have stamina/athleticism deep into the game, reason they play slow and lethargic, Brozovic is too defensive, only Kova looks balanced but i rate enzo above him on current form.

       RDP, Enzo and Alexis will overrun them.

   • Don’t be cocky. This Croatia team has better Midfield and much better organized defense. Unless Scaloni play Lisandro as Lb and Alvarez as Forward it will be a toll order for Argentina. Infact this time Croatia might not be playing for penalty but dominate game.
     At this point we should be open minded and understand tactical superiority is what will win this tournament.

   • We won them in WC’98 1-0 (their superstar team with Davor Suker), we lost to them before WC’06 1-2 with out star-studded team after leading 1-0, then again lost to them in WC18 where we have crazy Sampaoli and keeper’s blunder. They in this WC reminded me of Arg in WC’90, back to back penalty winning. I don’t think it’s 50-50, we have some small edge, but it’s semi-final they will play their best game, so it’ll be very difficult.

     Also Kovacic-modric-brozovic is not like busquets-xavi-iniesta at their prime. Modric with star-studded Real Madrid got run over by this trio for a decade. Busquets-xavi-iniesta is probably the best trio in the history.

   • It is foolishness to underestimate a team who reached semifinal of the WC, especially considering they are coming after beating mighty Brazil. Their midfield is technically better than us and are known for relentless play and creativity. Modric, the prime reason behind Real Madrid’s UCL wins, is a master in controlling a match and finding the weaknesses. We need fully fit De Paul and Di Maria to fight with them. I think Angel Correa and Dybala may replace Di Maria and Alvarez as subs. I hope to see a commanding display from Argentina, unlike the Nederlands match during the regular time.

8. Four draws and one win in this WC by Croatia. Their keeper, defense and midfield are strong. The weakness is upfront, not something we can exploit.

   There won’t be much space.
   I hope we will see 4 3 3 with Licha in place of Acuna and Messi, Di Maria and Dybala as forwards.

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