Scaloni defends gamers’ conduct towards Dutch at World Cup

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni dismissed criticism of his gamers’ conduct in the course of the feisty World Cup quarterfinal match towards the Netherlands, saying Monday it’s “out of touch with reality.”

There have been 17 yellow playing cards — a document for a World Cup match — and one sending-off as gamers clashed on quite a few events earlier than and after Argentina gained a penalty shootout to advance to the semifinals.

Scaloni mentioned it was unfair that his gamers have been accused of unhealthy sportsmanship, pointing to earlier examples of how they’ve behaved after matches — whether or not they gained or misplaced.

“We have to remove this taboo that we do not know how to lose and we do not know 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.

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“We won the Copa America in Brazil (last year) and I think you saw the most beautiful image of sportsmanship you could see, with Neymar, (Lionel) Messi, (Leandro) Paredes and other players sitting on the steps of the Maracana.”

Scaloni mentioned the criticism had harm Argentina’s “pride.”

“This issue must be settled,” he mentioned via an interpreter. “We deeply respect the Netherlands, as we do now for Croatia and all our rivals.

“We must banish the idea that we do not know how to win or lose. That is totally out of touch with reality.”

Since the stunning loss to Saudi Arabia, Argentina has been another defeat away from elimination however dealt with the stress and put collectively three straight wins to achieve the quarterfinals. There, the crew conceded targets within the 83rd minute and within the eleventh minute of stoppage time to be taken to additional time by the Netherlands.

Argentina defender Nicolas Tagliafico mentioned his crew is prospering on taking part in on the sting.

“We have enough experience to be like this at the moment,” mentioned the left again, who will possible return to the crew towards Croatia instead of the suspended Marcos Acuna. “In knockout matches, there can be moments the place we must undergo.

“We have the necessary personality to live it and make it something to enjoy. We are defending the colors of the national team.”

Argentina has struggled to retain its composure late in video games within the knockout stage, with Australia creating huge possibilities within the remaining minutes within the spherical of 16 and the Netherlands then coming from two targets down.

Scaloni accepted that was one thing Argentina wanted to work on however mentioned the crew was struggling to adapt to the elevated quantity of stoppage time performed at this 12 months’s World Cup.

“It is something new to play eight, nine, 10 minutes of added time and it adds some insecurity for the team that is winning,” Scaloni mentioned. “This is a whole new situation that’s happening in this World Cup. I won’t say if it is fair or not but it will become normal in future games.”