Argie boss Lionel: We are not the bad guys!
ARGENTINA head coach Lionel Scaloni defended his team’s behaviour during the fiery quarter-final victory against the Netherlands as Lionel Messi and Co turn their attention to reaching the World Cup final.
La Albiceleste take on Croatia at Lusail Stadium tonight, where the victor will return for Sunday’s final against France or Morocco.
Argentina were involved in arguably the game of the tournament so far in the quarter-finals as the Dutch roared back to make it 2-2 deep into stoppage time and take the match to extra time.
Scaloni’s side eventually triumphed 4-3 on penalties and his players were quick to goad their opponents, with Messi and shootout hero Emiliano Martinez publicly taking aim at Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal.
Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz dished out bookings aplenty, with FIFA announcing disciplinary proceedings against both federations for the misconduct of players and officials in the ill-tempered clash.
“The previous game was played the way we had to play it from both teams, the Netherlands and Argentina, and that’s football,” head coach Scaloni said.
“In football, sometimes you have to defend, attack and some games, you know, things can happen like the previous game.
“There can be arguments, more challenging times but that’s all. That’s why there is a referee to make justice.
“And we need to just put an end to this idea of thinking Argentina is just that and we usually have that sort of behaviour.
“We lost to Saudi Arabia, we didn’t say anything. We won the Copa America in Brazil and we experienced the most sporting behaviour with Messi, (Leonardo) Paredes and Neymar.
“I’m really not convinced of this idea of unsporting behaviour.
“We need to put an end to this idea of us not being good winners or losers – that’s very far from who we actually are as a team, as a squad and as the way we represent this nation.”
Messi is set to make a recordequalling 25th appearance in the competition tonight. “He’s always been a winner,” Scaloni said.
“He’s so eager, willing to keep playing football so we’re very happy about this.
“We’ll see whether he continues playing or not.
“We will keep enjoying him. That’s the most (important) thing we can do.”