Argentina coach sees Germany and Belgium as bad examples
* Argentina - Australia: 2pm 4/12 train MetaSports.
"Germany and Belgium were eliminated in the group stage, but this is not surprising," Scaloni said on December 2 at a pre-match press conference. "Many people say that strong teams deserve to be in the next stage, but that doesn't always happen."
In the last round of Group E on December 1, Spain lost to Japan 1-2, while Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 thanks to goals at the end of the game. With this result, Japan ranked first in the group of deaths, Spain ranked second, and Germany was eliminated from the group stage.
A few hours earlier, in the final round of Group F, Belgium needed a win to keep their hopes up, but was held to a 0-0 draw by Croatia. Substitute striker Romelu Lukaku squandered at least three good chances. This result made Belgium third and coach Roberto Martinez resigned.
Argentina itself also suffered the shock of losing 1-2 to Saudi Arabia in the opening round of Group C. But then, the South American representative defeated Mexico and then Poland, both with a score of 2-0 to reach the top of the group. Scaloni called the way the home team turned the situation around "totally crazy", while denying that Argentina is more appreciated than Australia in the 1/8 round today.
The 44-year-old coach said that Argentina did not practice tactics, but focused on resting and recovering when there were only three days off. 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, and Australia closed the group stage 4 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."
Australia has qualified for the first time in the World Cup group stage since 2006, and is the team with the lowest ranking (38) on the FIFA rankings in the round of 16 this year. However, Scaloni appreciates Australia very highly. He added: "Our goal is to play with the same determination as in the previous games. Australia is in good form. They are a team with 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.
