Speaking after his Argentina side edged past a combative Australia team in their last 16 meeting in Qatar, Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni spoke on the tournament’s busy schedule, having had just 72 hours to prepare for the tie, and the difficulties posed by the Socceroos:
“Physically it’s very difficult to sustain, playing so many games in a few days, but when you think about the support it makes you want to join them and celebrate. It’s very exciting – what happened today will be remembered for the rest of our lives, it really feels like we’re playing in Argentina. [Today was] a very difficult game due to the suffocating pressure [from Australia]. It cost us in the first half but luckily Leo [Messi] opened the door. For the second half, we corrected some things and I think the team didn’t deserve to suffer as much they did at the end.”
The Netherlands are next up for Argentina in the quarter-finals on Friday.
GWFN
