Argentina coach uses Germany and Belgium to warn Argentina
* Argentina - Australia: 2pm 4/12 train MetaSports.
"Germany and Belgium were eliminated in the group stage, but this is not surprising," Scaloni said before Australia's match at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium. "Many people say that strong teams deserve to be in the next stage, but that doesn't always happen."
This year's World Cup witnessed many unexpected results. For example, Japan beat both former champions Germany and Spain, to reach the round of 16 as the top of Group E. Or before that, the second-placed FIFA team Belgium drew Croatia, only to have to stop immediately. group stage.
Argentina itself also experienced the shock of losing 1-2 to Saudi Arabia in the first leg of Group C. But then, the South American representative promptly found a victory over Mexico and then Poland, to finish first in the group. Scaloni called the way the home team turned the situation around "totally crazy", while denying the notion that Argentina is appreciated more than Australia.
The 44-year-old coach also said that Argentina did not practice tactics, but focused on rest and physical recovery when there were only three days of rest before the 1/8 round. He continued to criticize FIFA when he repeated that he had to attend a press conference after the victory over Poland at 2 am Doha time, while Australia closed the group stage four hours earlier, in the closing leg on November 30. "That day, we didn't go to bed until 4 am and this will have a serious impact, because Argentina has to play in more than 48 hours," Scaloni emphasized. "We will have to be on the field to play, even though we know the World Cup is very tough."
This is the first time Australia has qualified for the World Cup group stage since 2006, and is the team with the lowest FIFA ranking (38) in the round of 16 this year. However, Scaloni is very wary: "Our goal is to play with determination like in the previous matches. Australia is in high form. They have a tradition in World Cups, and Argentina will have many difficulties."
Sitting next to Scaloni during the press conference, midfielder Rodrigo De Paul warned Argentina not to make a mistake near the 16m50 area, because Australia has many tall players and good aerial combat. The 28-year-old midfielder also appreciates Australia's ability to counterattack and attack on both sides.
