ARROGANT , IGNORANT, ...DREADFUL
Argentine legend Ardiles launches scathing attack on boss Sampaoli as South Americans face humiliation
OSSIE ARDILES has launched a scathing attack on “arrogant, ignorant” Jorge Sampaoli after the Argentina coach left the two-time winners staring into the abyss.
The 65-year-old Spurs legend – who helped his country win the World Cup in 1978 – also took aim at the players and the Argentinian FA in the wake of Thursday’s 3-0 loss to Croatia.
The humiliation means Argentina – who reached the 2014 final – no longer have their destiny in their own hands and could go out at the group stage for only the second time in 56 years.
They must beat Nigeria on Tuesday and hope Iceland fail to win their last game against a weakened Croatia side. Angry Ardiles claimed the “prestige” hard won by past Argentinian sides had been tossed away carelessly by Sampaoli’s players and the current administration.
He also insisted the team’s decline since the last World Cup had been disguised by Lionel Messi’s “unrivalled genius”.
Hitting out at the AFA, which made three coaching changes in a year as La Albiceleste struggled during qualifying, Ardiles said: “From world champion to being the worst national team in Argentina’s history. Where to begin?” Turning on his country’s former Chile and Sevilla boss, Ardiles added: “Sampaoli. Dreadful. Finished his cycle insulting the Croatian players. Arrogant, ignorant. Even having the best player in the world was not capable of creating a competitive team.
“Plan A of Sampaoli. Give the ball to Messi and wait for a miracle. If Plan A doesn’t work, Plan B. Errr. There is no plan B.
“Defensively. Make fouls regardless of the circumstances, or the consequences.”
The players did not escape Ardiles’ anger either, the former midfielder saying: “To be playing outside of Argentina does not mean they are elite players. “Many of them were not even starters in their own teams. The prestige acquired over the years, especially by the two world champion teams, thrown overboard. Embarrassing also the ‘bullying’ of our most experienced players: Mascherano, Otamendi. The incident with Rakitic. Please Otamendi. Apologise.” Ardiles absolved Messi – who could be playing in his last World Cup – of any blame, adding: “All the decline of recent times was hidden by this unrivalled genius who we are lucky was born in Argentina. “But even for him it was too much.”