Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni revealed, on Friday, in the press conference in anticipation of the World Cup round of 16 match in Qatar – Saturday, against Australia (15 hours from mainland Portugal), in Al-Rayyan – which is still. Former Benfica player Di Maria (now at Juventus) is believed to have recovered from injury and is available for the match.

“Di Maria is still feeling a little uncomfortable, but he’s not having any cramps. Wait for game time. It might sound silly, but we played later, even won the set, and took less rest than Australia since the last game. Look, I also have doubts about whether I was going to take part in Tagliafico or not, I hope the owners [Di María] Be available to play », were the wishes that Scaloni expressed to reporters, on Friday, in the Qatari capital.

According to the Argentine press (Olé newspaper), Scaloni midfielder Enzo Fernandez, from Benfica, is one of the pillars of the formation, in a strategy baptized with the name ‘Scaloneta’: the Benfica player, already in the starting line-up against Poland (the assist) after being used as a substitute in The previous two matches (and scored a beautiful goal against the Mexicans), he is one of the three pillars of the coach, along with Alexis McAllister (Brighton) and Julian Alvarez (Manchester City).

What Scaloni does not want is unbridled euphoria. Is the competitor inferior? I do not agree. definitely. This is football, 11 vs 11, we have to put the favoritism aside and play the game. As for the tactics, it will be similar, perhaps with some changes. Australia has good players, but we will try to show our best game, control the game most of the minutes, and our idea is to try to win, ”advanced Scaloni.

What to expect from an Oceania team, but who has qualified and competes in the Asian region, was clear. “They have good players on the right wing, forwards, and experienced midfielders who play in competitive leagues. And they, especially, are a team. And when you go up against a team, it’s always tough. It’s a choice with players who know what they want,” Scaloni said.

After arguing over the validation of a 2-1 move by Japan against Spain – giving the feeling that the ball, before, had completely crossed the bottom line, but the goal was validated – so did Scaloni, without stopping. On it, he, like his counterpart in Spain, Luis Enrique, left many doubts.

“I think the same thing that Luis Enrique thinks: the first pictures are clear [bola terá passado o risco na totalidade]🇧🇷 But if you analyze it in detail, you will see what happened. There is nothing else to do. We face the situation and live with it. It’s hard to digest, even more so because it’s being implemented at the World Cup. If only we had time to adjust earlier, but it was so surprising. We had a month of testing before the matches. Anyway, it’s for everyone, that’s what we have. But to be … almost a millimeter, ”said the Pampas specifier.

As for the football that will be presented and what Australia expects, there is no doubt. ′′ In attack, they have a clear system, and I don’t think they will change. My message to the fans is always the same: let’s break our backs on the field! We came to compete, but in the end it’s just football, one game, we saw it in the Group E matches on Thursday. Almost all teams deserved to be in the next stage, but at a certain moment the matches switched, and that’s what happened, ”was the example hinted at by the Scaloni team, which was not surprised by Australia’s victory over Denmark.

“I wasn’t surprised: they’re a good team, they had a good qualification campaign. They were the fourth team to qualify for Qatar! They have a Worlds tradition, and that makes them a tough opponent. We won’t be overconfident, just play our best football, game by game, and see what happens.” It will happen », concluded the Argentina coach.