Lisandro Martínez spoke about Argentina’s 3-2 win against Cabo Verde at the World Cup.
Martínez had one goal and one assist in the Argentina national team’s 3-2 win against Cabo Verde. The Argentine assisted Lionel Messi on the first goal and he scored the second goal of the game. Speaking to the media after the match, here is what he had to say:
“We fought until the end and we never dropped our arms down. These knockout games are like this, you can’t get complacent.
“There were two teams that left it all but we are rightful winners. I’m very happy and proud of this team.
“I always worry about not letting them score on me but fortunately today, I’m happy with mine. They played an excellent match but this team never gives up.
“There’s a beautiful energy in this team and that grows even bigger in the details. Sometimes, you have to suffer.”
You can blame Scaloni and the squad all you want, but our last World Cup qualifying match was 9 months ago. We were a strong, competitive team during the qualifiers. SCALONI had no reason to make radical changes to the core lineup
In that gap, the useless, greedy clown of a president couldn’t arrange a single competitive friendly to keep this squad grounded. Instead, we played Panama, Guatemala, and other weak opponents who never truly tested us and gave us the false impression that everything was fine. How are you supposed to prepare for the World Cup without facing a single top 20 team for nearly a year?
I don’t understand why so many people are blaming Scaloni and the players when the bigger issue is the lack of preparation. Why would Scaloni drop the players he trusted when they kept winning comfortably against inferior opposition? We needed challenging matches much earlier so he could identify which players were no longer good enough, but that never happened because we simply weren’t playing quality teams.
If we crash out of this World Cup, the biggest share of the blame goes to Tapia. He’s done a terrible job of arranging high quality matches for the national team for years. Our success on the pitch allowed him to avoid criticism, but now the consequences of that poor planning are becoming painfully obvious.
I know emotions are very high but have some faith, nobody expected ARG to lose to Saudi Arabia…..the sleeping giant was awakened and the rest was history.
Man, I’m so happy we beat Cape Verde because I knew it would be tough since they had nothing to lose while Argentina had everything to lose, plus it was Argentina against the world. I’m pretty sure we’ll reach the final and probably win it again. I’d prefer to play teams like Spain, Brazil, Colombia, and France over teams like Cape Verde who have nothing to lose.
I’ll preface this by saying I hope I am wrong and that I have misread everything. But even if we get past Egypt, this team is going to be humiliated by Columbia much less France, Spain, or England. It doesn’t even look like the same team of 2022. The entire midfield was awful. Not a single guy other than Messi ran yesterday. A field full of twenty something’s got out worked by a 39 year old player. Scaloni wanted to focus on the positives. Denial is not a river in Egypt, but at this pace that’s the end of the road for us. Last night, at least behind closed doors, is nothing to celebrate, it’s a dillusional embarrassment. If it were me, Simeone, I’d go to a 4-4-2 with Barco, Simeone, Paredes, Paz starting, and leave Julian atop with Messi. Your left and right back play is dogshit anyway, at least maybe with those guys in the midfield you’ll perform better, but absolutely nothing gave me hope through all 4 games that this shit pile can win anything. And to think we couldn’t have used Buendia or Mastantuono. At least those guys can run.
And never forget, this mf’er called up Montiel instead of Giay. And Almada. Honestly is Almada at this point any better than Garnacho! That’s not saying much. And Lautaro Jesus Christ man, 63 minutes, ZERO shots on goal. He had as many attempts as I did from my living room.
LM was a huge question mark prior to the WC but boy did answer all the critics, both offensively and defensively.
As painful as it was to watch last night’s game, the GAME was WON and ARA is in the round of 16 getting ready to face Egypt. The Albiceleste for some strange reason tends to play down to their opponents, maybe it’s over-confidence or unfamiliarity but it has happened time and time again but they won’t make the same mistake again. As the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger and ARG got a taste of what could have happened and I’m pretty sure didn’t like it.
Any news on any injuries, Cuti, Medina?
Scaloni has somehow managed to make the 2022 world Cup winning team look like the aging, disjointed side from 2018 again. Here are my player ratings.
Emi – 5/10
He’s been beaten four times in this tournament, and it took two Cape Verde goals plus the genuine threat of elimination for him to finally wake up. Until then, every attack looked like he was going to concede. Just saying but on current form, Musso would have found a way to not concede those goals.
Medina – 1/10
The first goal started with his misplaced pass and then when the ball came back in the box, he was beaten far too easily as the attacker humiliating way nutmegged him before both Lisandro and Emi got beaten . Defensively poor, offered nothing going forward, and easily my worst player on the pitch. Even Acuna would’ve probably done better.
Lisandro Martinez – 8/10
Excellent. Had almost no support from Medina but still defended well throughout. He also stepped into midfield to progress the ball , bagged a great assist and even got on the scoresheet with a banger ! One of the few onces who wants to win it again.
Romero – 6/10
Not at his best and looked slower than usual, but unlike others he didn’t make any costly mistakes. His aerial presence was important again. However he has to step up in the next match.
Molina – 2/10
The second Cape Verde goal came from his side after he failed to win his duel. Scaloni substituted him immediately afterwards. Anyone who watched Atletico Madrid knows he had another below average season and even lost his place to make shift RB Llorente. Had always been poor defensively and offered nothing going forward.
Rodrigo De Paul – 4/10
He hasn’t looked like the same player since leaving European football. Right now he should be an experienced squad player, not an automatic starter. He slows down an already slow team. A last 15 min sub at best!
Enzo Fernández – 4/10
Very disappointing. A lot was expected from him, yet he was arguably even less influential than De Paul. He played with little urgency and never controlled the midfield. He has Madrid on his mind. He is playing like its impossible to win back to back WCs so why waste energy!
MacAllister – 6/10
I am actually surprised people are blaming him. He was way better than enzo and depaul. He constantly tried to speed up play and create something, but there is only so much you can do when those around you aren’t moving. He and Enzo need a younger, more dynamic midfielder alongside them.
Messi – 9/10
Scaloni completely drained Messi yesterday. Once again, he carried the attack because nobody else could. The manager never figured out how to integrate Dybala before, and now he still doesn’t seem to know how to properly use Nico Paz when the attack runs out of ideas. We play again in three days, and if Messi has to play another full game after 120 minutes, his 39-year-old legs won’t keep bailing us out. If not for Cape Verde’s goalkeeper, he would’ve had another goal.
Lautaro – 3/10
When the midfield provides no service, he offers very little. He has become a pure penalty box striker at Inter. With our current setup and out of form midfield and forwards, Alvarez fits the system much better and has to start against Egypt.
Almada – 1/10
I have already said enough about this giy. There’s a reason he ended up in Mls. He struggled badly in la liga as well, and leaving players like Soule and Buendia behind for him was a huge mistake from Scaloni & Co. The Medina-Almada partnership on the left gave Cape Verde confidence because there was absolutely no threat from that side. Sixty minutes completely wasted.
Alvarez – 4/10
He tried to press, run and create, but the team was already exhausted by the time he came on. He has to start against Egypt. His movement and work rate fit Scaloni’s system much better than Lautaro’s.
Paredes – 6/10
Looked much sharper than both enzo and depaul and brought some calmness in possession. I still think Barco should start ahead of both him and De Paul.
Montiel – 2/10
I still can’t believe Scaloni left a young, quick player like Giay at home to bring another injury prone, inconsistent and FINISHED right-back when Molina already has the exact same profile. He changed very little and looked even more vulnerable to Cape Verde’s attack!
Tagliafico – 6/10
I immediately felt more secure after he replaced Medina. At 33, he’s still comfortably ahead of Medina. He has to start against Egypt, even if we desperately need younger, quicker full-backs. But beggars can’t be choosers!
Nico.G – 6/10
A clear upgrade over Almada. He looked much more active, direct and willing to attack defenders. Atltico fans must be wondering how Almada was ahead of him in the pecking order.
Scaloni – 2/10
His worst game of the tournament. The starting XI was poor, there was no effective plan b, the substitutions didn’t improve us, and his game management forced Messi to play 120 exhausting minutes. On top of that, he exposed every weakness this team has, to the rest of the tournament.
Overall, Scaloni has somehow turned this team into a version of sampaoli’s 2018 argentina. aging, slow, predictable, and lacking chemistry. He still doesn’t seem to know how to use Nico Paz when the attack runs out of ideas and we desperately need a goal! Medina and Almada being his new finds says everything! We constantly lose possession, struggle to press, and look fcuking slow in every aspect of the game. Right now, we are nodoubt the slowest of all the major teams. If we play like this against France, Brazil, England or any other fast side, we’ll get torn apart in pieces!