Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni saved his playing cards near his chest when quizzed about his possible line-up as he prepares to face holders France within the World Cup last on Sunday.
Scaloni was evasive on Saturday when requested if he would deploy a three-man defence as he did for the quarter-final towards the Netherlands, to present proper full-back Nahuel Molina help towards France’s lightning-fast star participant Kylian Mbappe.
“We already decided the strategy and we will play in a way in which we think we can hurt our rivals the most and suffer the least,” Scaloni informed a information convention.
“We have our gameplan, we know how to play them and now we just have to execute, and I hope we can play a similar game as we did against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals – but win the match without having to go through the pain of a penalty shoot-out.”
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Scaloni made key adjustments after Argentina suffered a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia of their World Cup opener and introduced in children Enzo Fernandez and Julian Alvarez – who’ve been good since. He has additionally made adjustments to his system, utilizing three defenders towards the Netherlands and three holding midfielders to neutralize Croatia’s nice Luka Modric.
If Scaloni decides he doesn’t need Molina dealing with Mbappe on his personal might choose to return to the ways he deployed towards the Dutch, which might imply Tottenham Hotspur centre again Cristian Romero serving to to fend of the explosive French ahead.
“To stop Mbappe you need a collective effort. But France is more than just Mbappe. We need to focus on making a good game collectively,” Scaloni stated.
“Sunday’s sport is far more than Lionel Messi towards Mbappe, it’s Argentina towards France, it goes past that.
“We both have the necessary weapons so that the game can be decided by other players and not necessarily the two of them. Let’s hope it falls on our side, but there are plenty of players who can decide the game.”
After Argentina booked their ticket to the ultimate with a 3-0 win towards Croatia, Messi confirmed Sunday can be his final sport for Argentina.
Scaloni stated that made it a fair larger match for his workforce and his nation: “Let’s hope that if it’s Leo’s (Messi) last game, that we can win the title. It would be great and the important thing is to enjoy it… What better scenario than in a World Cup final.”
