Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni defended his team’s behaviour during their fiery quarter-final victory against the Netherlands as Lionel Messi and Co turn their attention to reaching the World Cup final today.
The two-time champions take on 2018 finalists Croatia at Lusail Stadium, where the victor will face France or Morocco in Sunday’s final.
Argentina were involved in arguably the game of the tournament so far at that venue in the quarter-finals, where 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 but his players were quick to goad their opponents, with Messi and shoot-out 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.
But Scaloni played down the fallout yesterday, insisting: ‘The previous game was played the way we had to play it from both teams, the Netherlands and Argentina, and that’s football. In football, sometimes you have to defend, attack and some games, you know, things can happen.
‘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.
‘They were all sitting together in that tunnel at that Maracana stadium, so I’m really not convinced of this idea of unsporting behaviour.
‘We need to show our pride and we just played the game the way we had to play it. And then there is a referee in charge of making decisions. Things end in the moment the referee blows the final whistle.
‘So, we respect all the teams, the Netherlands, Croatia now and all the opponents we face. That’s one of our main characteristics and features of our personality since the first game.
‘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.’
Key battle: Luka Modric v Rodrigo De Paul
Croatia’s run to a second straight World Cup semi-final – much like their first – is built on the midfield dominance of Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic.
As right-back Josip Juranovic said at the weekend: ‘When you pass them the ball it is safer than having your money in the bank.’ At an age when most careers are over or winding down, 37-year-old Modric played deep into extra-time in the last-16 shoot-out win over Japan.
He was back four days later to play the full 120 and convert from the spot as Brazil were dispatched in the quarter-finals. If Argentina are to avoid a similar exit, Lionel Messi will obviously be the key man but Rodrigo de Paul will not be far behind – literally.
The Atletico Madrid midfielder has been described as Messi’s bodyguard but he’s more like the captain’s butler. While Messi has walked his way through large spells of games, De Paul ran further than any team-mate in the group stage and almost twice as far as Messi.
MORE : Nicolas Otamendi explains why Argentina celebrated in the faces of Dutch players
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