Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni dismissed criticism of his gamers’ habits in the course of the feisty World Cup quarterfinal match towards the Netherlands, saying Monday it’s “out of contact with actuality.”
There have been 17 yellow playing cards — a file for a World Cup match — and one sending-off as gamers clashed on quite a few events earlier than and after Argentina received a penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals.
Scaloni mentioned it was unfair that his gamers have been accused of dangerous sportsmanship, pointing to earlier examples of how they’ve behaved after matches — whether or not they received or misplaced.
“We now have to take away this taboo that we have no idea find out how to lose and we have no idea find out how to win,” mentioned Scaloni, talking a day earlier than Argentina’s match towards Croatia within the semifinals. “We misplaced our first sport with Saudi Arabia and went quietly to the resort to proceed getting ready for what was coming.Subscriber Solely StoriesPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
“We received the Copa America in Brazil (final yr) and I feel you noticed probably the most stunning picture of sportsmanship you would see, with Neymar, (Lionel) Messi, (Leandro) Paredes and different gamers sitting on the steps of the Maracana.”
Scaloni mentioned the criticism had harm Argentina’s “delight.”
“This problem should be settled,” he mentioned by an interpreter. “We deeply respect the Netherlands, as we do now for Croatia and all our rivals.
“We should banish the concept we have no idea find out how to win or lose. That’s completely out of contact with actuality.”
For the reason that surprising loss to Saudi Arabia, Argentina has been yet another defeat away from elimination however dealt with the stress and put collectively three straight wins to achieve the quarterfinals. There, the group conceded objectives within the 83rd minute and within the eleventh minute of stoppage time to be taken to further time by the Netherlands.
Argentina defender Nicolas Tagliafico mentioned his group is flourishing on enjoying on the sting.
“We now have sufficient expertise to be like this for the time being,” mentioned the left again, who will seemingly return to the group towards Croatia rather than the suspended Marcos Acuna. “In knockout matches, there will probably be moments the place we should undergo.
“We now have the required persona to reside it and make it one thing to take pleasure in. We’re defending the colours of the nationwide group.”
Argentina has struggled to retain its composure late in video games within the knockout stage, with Australia creating large probabilities within the closing minutes within the spherical of 16 and the Netherlands then coming from two objectives down.
Scaloni accepted that was one thing Argentina wanted to work on however mentioned the group was struggling to adapt to the elevated quantity of stoppage time performed at this yr’s World Cup.
“It’s one thing new to play eight, 9, 10 minutes of added time and it provides some insecurity for the group that’s successful,” Scaloni mentioned. “This can be a entire new state of affairs that’s taking place on this World Cup. I received’t say whether it is truthful or not however it would develop into regular in future video games.”