Lionel Messi Lionel Scaloni Croatia Netherlands Argentina Mexico Saudi Arabia soccer Sport Test cup Lionel Messi Lionel Scaloni Croatia Netherlands Argentina Mexico Saudi Arabia

World Cup digest: Dutch test will aid Argentina

rte.ie

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni believes the never-say-die attitude his team showed in their quarter-final against the Netherlands will hold them in good stead as they move forward to a last-four meeting with a similarly resilient Croatia.The Albiceleste looked to be cruising to the semi-finals on Friday with a 2-0 lead heading into the last few minutes of the game but the Dutch hit back with two late goals to take it into extra time.Argentina recovered their composure to have the better of the scoreless additional 30 minutes before progressing comfortably in the penalty shootout."I don't know how many tests of character we have come through in this World Cup, we lost our first game (against Saudi Arabia), we found it hard against Mexico and today, the way the Dutch hit long balls obliged us to defend," Scaloni told the post-match news conference."But this team always knows what it has to do."Scaloni has always made it clear that he believes Lionel Messi to be the best player of all time but also takes every opportunity to talk up the rest of his team.We need your consent to load this comcast-player contentWe use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity.

Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences Typical of their attitude, he said, was that he had too many volunteers to take penalties in the shootout that won the game."The team has a spirit of knowing how to face up to any situation at any time," he said."They continued to show that face in a complicated, very difficult match.

When you think it's all over, it's not over. But this team has what it takes, they have the desire, the youth, the pride, and never give

Related News
Millions of jubilant fans turned out on Tuesday to welcome home Argentina's World Cup winners led by Lionel Messi, but most were left disappointed when an open-top bus parade had to be abandoned due to the massive crowds, in favour of a hastily organised helicopter tour.
Gulf state Qatar is eyeing hosting a British & Irish Lions match and having a tournament in the HSBC World Sevens Series after successfully hosting the FIFA World Cup, according to a UK report.
BUENOS AIRES: Millions of jubilant fans turned out Tuesday to welcome home Argentina’s World Cup winners led by Lionel Messi, but most were left disappointed when an open-top bus parade had to be abandoned due to the massive crowds, in favor of a hastily organized helicopter tour.
The airplane transporting World Cup winners Argentina and their captain Lionel Messi back from Qatar arrived at the Ezeiza international airport in Buenos Aires at 2:40 am (07:40 SA time) on Tuesday.
Inspired by a mesmerising Lionel Messi performance, Argentina finally ended a 36-year wait to lift the FIFA World Cup trophy on Sunday.

Latest News

Change privacy settings
This page might use cookies if your analytics vendor requires them.