World Cup schedule, standings and groups
Coach Lionel Scaloni downplayed the state of his team, saying: “We are not the favourites to do anything. We’re going to fight, but if you think just because we won tonight, we’re going to be World Cup champions, that’s wrong. “.
Poland is also advancing, but not without a wonderful fear of. . . Yellow cards. With Mexico ahead of Saudi Arabia in the other Group C match, which was played at the same time, the Mexicans and Poles were tied on points, goal difference, overall purposes and head to head. The next tiebreaker: the sanctioning file.
With two yellow cards less than Mexico in the organizing phase, the Poles were careful at the end of the match not to receive more warnings. In the end, the cards did not count as Mexico conceded a beaten goal to Saudi Arabia in their 2-1 victory, giving Poland credit in goal differential.
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“My centre missed a blow when [Grzegorz Krychowiak] won a yellow card” in the 78th minute, Poland coach Czeslaw Michniewicz said. “I told them to make stupid cards. “
His cross was overjoyed when, moments after the end of the match against Poland, news of Saudi Arabia’s goal leaked through coaches and players on the pitch. For the first time since 1986, Poland missed qualifying and will face France on Sunday.
“We lost, but it’s bittersweet,” Michniewicz said.
He spent much of his press conference confronting reporters about his team’s performance, saying to one, “Did you see the game?Were you at dinner?. . . We were promoted [to the knockout stage] after so many years. Let’s go.
Anxious to finish the session with the media, Michniewicz looked at his phone and said, “It’s late. The prime minister calls and I can’t answer.
Argentina answered their call with a direct victory after losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in the group’s first game, a feat that ended a 36-game unbeaten streak.
“When you’re defeated, you have to keep going,” Scaloni said. “You can’t stay thinking about this defeat. I don’t think it’s advantageous to lose. We gain nothing from that defeat. We knew we had to win our remaining two games.
Midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, who scored Argentina’s first goal, said: “We are looking to make up for this defeat. We knew we could play better and in the current game [against Mexico] we were able to find the calm we needed. “Today was a wonderful game, we played well together and that filled us with confidence.
Outshining their Polish counterparts on a partly cloudy night, Argentine enthusiasts decorated the bay excavations with their blue and white balloons, blue and white flags, blue and white wigs, and light blue and white fisherman’s hats.
There were posters of Messi and past Diego Maradona as a celestial and white deity, as well as blue and white banners classified with the origins of their owner, such as Bahía Blanca and Río Cuarto.
Poland absorbed the tension in the first half. Nine players sat down, leaving superstar striker Robert Lewandowski as a lone figure in midfield.
Then, at the end of the half, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny filmed on a video replay punching Messi in the face as he tried to hit a cross on the back post. It didn’t look worthy of a penalty, but after review, referee Danny Makkelie awarded it.
Szczesny redeemed himself with Messi’s offer, throwing himself to his left and his delayed hand to slap the escape attempt. For all his greatness, Messi is far from the best from the penalty spot, converting around 77%, which is in the world average.
It was not the first time he missed the World Cup: 4 years ago, the Icelandic Hannes Halldorsson prevented it.
“We try to be optimistic” after Messi’s failure, Mac Allister said.
Szczesny saved a penalty against Saudi Arabia on Saturday and is the first to save two World Cup goals since American Brad Friedel in 2002.
Argentina were obviously frustrated by the half-time draw, “then the purpose came and that reassured us,” Scaloni said.
Szczesny’s heroism had presented only a relief of transience. Less than a minute after the halfway point, Nahuel Molina broke through the center of the box, where Mac Allister hit his shot badly but had enough speed, and ideal direction, to win. Szczesny at the lowest angle. For his first foreign goal.
Twenty minutes later, 22-year-old forward Julian Alvarez finished off a ball from a defender before launching a 14-metre shot with speed and soaring into the other side of the net for his fourth foreign goal.
As a child, Alvarez adored Messi and, at one point, posed for a photo with the Argentine master. Now he gets a hug from his idol.
Four days after scoring a great goal against Mexico, Messi calmed down on Wednesday. Without a world-class supporting cast, Lewandowski isn’t a factor either.
“We didn’t do it,” he said Michniewicz. Si Messi played for us and Robert played for Argentina, he would score five goals, I’m convinced. “
World champions: Argentina won the World Cup, beating France by the fallout in a thrilling final in Lusail, Qatar, for their first world championship since 1986. Argentina was led by world soccer star Lionel Messi in what is expected to be its World Cup Appearance final France was looking for the first repeat champion since Brazil won back-to-back trophies in 1958 and 1962.
The current worldview: In the minds of many critics, especially in the West, the Qatar World Cup will be a tournament surrounded by controversy. But Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani needs other people to have a different opinion.
Outlook: “The United States is not the laughable inventory of men’s soccer right now. It’s about something, and it’s more in line with what works for the rest of the world than stubbornly forcing an American sports culture, without taking advantage of the most productive. “Skill: in foreign competition. Read Jerry Brewer on the long-term U. S. Men’s National TeamU. S.