Emiliano Martínez spoke about the comments made by the Netherlands team before the quarter final match.

Martínez spoke to the media after Argentina’s on penalty kicks vs. Netherlands in the quarter finals. Prior to the match, Dutch coach Louis van Gaal had made comments about how Argentina tend to play with one man less when Lionel Messi doesn’t have the ball. Netherlands goalkeeper Noppert had also stated that he would save a Lionel Messi penalty. Speaking to TyC Sports after the match, here is what Martínez had to say:

“They spoke a lot of crap before the match. Their coach said that they were favorites if it would go to penalty kicks and that they wanted to get rid of the pain of 2014. Something I learned from football is that the talking is done on the pitch, they spoke a lot before the match and that gave me a lot of energy. You can’t talk that much before a match, to try to win. That made me stronger and after the game, I told them that.

“Their coach said that, I saw it, screenshotted it and kept it for myself. I showed it to Martin (Tocalli) and my psycholofist and told them “let’s turn on the dynamite.

“I didn’t think, I just thought that I was going to shut their mouths up.”

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni spoke to the media after the match about the team, the World Cup, Lionel Messi, Alejandro Sabella and the penalty kicks.

Lionel Scaloni has his team in the semi finals of the World Cup after penalty shootout win vs. Netherlands in the quarter finals. Speaking to the media after the match, here is what he had to say:

“It’s an objective. Now that we are at the dance, we have to keep dancing. We would like to continue, with all the respect to Croatia. Let’s hope we live up to it.

“The first objective is to pass the group stages and after that the quarter finals and now we are in the semi finals… We are at one step. With the most respect, we are very close.

“They have the spirit of knowing how to face every moment in the situations. We didn’t deserve to go to penalty kicks. Even at that, the team continued to show its face. A difficult match, complicated. We had it under control but football has this, it’s a beautiful sport. When you think it’s all over, it’s not over.”

Scaloni also spoke about the quarter final match and Lionel Messi:

“There are times you have to defend. Like they played, they force you that you have to defend. They put in three defenders that are 1.90 cm and you have to defend. The last 10 or 12 minutes were of the biggest difficulty.

“The match was for that. It’s a quarter final match. They are things that happen on the pitch. We didn’t play with one less when we had the ball, with 11… Leo showed that he is the best of all time. We are happy to have him.”

In regards to the referee:

“I won’t talk about the referee. I know him, I have a good relationship. He had my shirt from when I played. I still think he is a good referee. It’s not worth it, it’s over.”

When asked about Alejandro Sabella:

“I hope he is proud of what we have done with this group. I’m sure he is.”

About the penalty kicks:

“We knew who the kickers were going to be. There were too many players. That is good, it gives you confidence. It’s still something positive for the team to see that everyone wants to kick. And we knew that Emiliano, like against Colombia, could save. A little of a repeat of that and it gives the players confidence. We only had to decide the order but there were plenty of takers.”

Marcos Acuña and Gonzalo Montiel are suspended for the Croatia match in the semi finals of the World Cup.

Acuña and Montiel both received their second yellow cards of the World Cup in Argentina’s penalty shootout win vs. Netherlands in the quarter finals. Acuña received his first yellow card against Poland while Montiel was yelloe carded against Saudi Arabia.

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.”

Rodrigo De Paul spoke about his injury, the Argentina national team and the World Cup.

De Paul had not trained with the team on Wednesday but did play for Argentina in the penalty shootout win vs. Netherlands. Speaking to TyC Sports after the match, here is what he had to say:

“The emotion is for what we have achieved, for what my team mates did and above all, for the support I have received these three days to be able to be here. The truth is that it angers us that this information leaks because we want to manage it very cautiously.

“Some had me out of the World Cup, saying I was out. Not only do you have to bear the anger of having something there but also to reassure the family. I did a big job with the physiotherapists and doctors.

“It was consensual and always being asked. I knew that once I would be in, I couldn’t leave after 10 minutes. There was a lot of pressure on me. Thank God the work that was done made everything go well.”

In regards to the World Cup:

“Our goal was to be in the top four. To arrive on the first day and to leave the last. We were champions at the Maracana, we had an incredible qualifiers, we broke the record for undefeated matches and today we are in the semi final. I think what we have achieved is impressive and I am very grateful to be part of all this.”