If Argentina and Iceland both win, Argentina has to win by a bigger margin to advance.
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Sampaoli said one of his main tasks had been to transmit positivity to his players, who may be feeling pressure with Argentina in last place in Group D and on the verge of elimination. But that did not stop Lionel Messi from celebrating his birthday. Even victory could see them exit the tournament if Iceland beat Croatia by enough goals.
On Tuesday, Croatia could also become the fourth team in the history of the World Cup to win all three of their group games without conceding a goal.
He is also just the second African player to register two goals in two World Cup matches since Cameroon’s Roger Milla in 1990.
“But as a collective, where things don’t go as we’d like, we all have our own frustrations”.
After beating the Super Eagles 2-0 and La Albiceleste 3-0 to secure passage to the round of 16, Dalic has announced his intention to leave out six players at risk of incurring a yellow card suspension, including Ivan Rakitic and Mario Mandzukic.
Regarding tactics, Rohr said he had several formations to choose from. In football, there is no mercy, no pity. Sunday only served to highlight how time is running out for Messi to win a major global tournament.
So far, this tournament has been a huge disappointment for Messi and Argentina, which finished as runner-up at the 2014 World Cup. Messi wasn’t there. Instead, representatives from Argentina’s delegation were in attendance. The entire nation has been following the squad, which is known at home as “Our Boys”.
Iceland beat Croatia in a World Cup qualifier, and now finds its rival in its path again. Aguero, who is Messi’s roommate at the training base, responded: “Sampaoli can say what he wants”.
“We were ahead of them in our (qualifying) group and we’ve already beaten them once in Iceland, so we at least have that confidence with us when we play them”, Hallgrimsson said.
Three finals in three years, that’s not so shabby for a guy who played 50-plus other games each year for Barcelona. He even suggested Paul Pogba was too focused on his hairstyles. “It’s up to our coach to prepare the team best to our advantage”.
“My players can read, they can listen”, Deschamps said.
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No official change has been made, but now TyC reports that the president of Argentina’s soccer federation, Claudio Tapia, is supporting the players in their attempt to wrest control of the team away from Sampaoli.
