Having cleared the quarterfinal hurdle, Argentina are now looking ahead to the semifinal, where the Albiceleste’s opponents are England. But head coach Lionel Scaloni is not thinking about the opponent; instead he urged his side to play their best football.
Argentina became the last team to reach the semifinals by beating Switzerland 3-1 in the quarterfinal. England, who had already booked their place in the last four, beat Norway 2-1 in the quarterfinal, Thomas Tuchel’s side winning by that margin.
On their mission to reach the final, Argentina will take on England at the Atlanta Stadium at 1 a.m. Bangladesh time on July 15. On that match, Scaloni said: “Whether the opponent is England or Norway, it makes no difference. We will face a team (England) that plays very good football and has a great coach. What we most need now is to regain our strength. That is the most important thing.”
Argentina faced a tough test against Switzerland at the Kansas City Stadium. The defending champions led through Mac Allister’s goal until the 66th minute. After Dan Ndoye brought Switzerland back into the match, there were no more goals in regulation time. The match then went to extra time, where Argentina came good, with Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez scoring one each.
On the match against Switzerland, Scaloni said: “We had to suffer. We knew they are a very physical side. They put us in difficult situations and at some moments we couldn’t get out of them. Luck was on our side, because one of their players was shown a red card. That was when we could go on the attack. We must be realistic, we have room to improve. But being able to win is always good.”
Although his side did not play their best football in the quarterfinal, Scaloni did not hide his joy at reaching the last four: “Maybe we could have played better. But what this team has achieved is history. Reaching a World Cup semifinal again is truly historic.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report