"We’re not going anywhere.” The words rang out through the tunnels of Kansas City Stadium, minutes after sealed their place in the semi-final.
It was another gruelling night for the reigning world champions, a side that has endured one agonising challenge after another as they chase a successful title defence. The celebrations spilled into the dressing room, with cumbia beats and football chants sung by the players themselves.
The scenes followed a over Switzerland – La Albiceleste’s second knockout win over their opponents having also triumphed at the
“Today you could say we weren’t at our best,” Lionel Scaloni said during his post-match press conference after being questioned by an Argentinian journalist. “I want to watch this match back. We need to go over it and analyse it. We came up against an opponent who really pushed us to our limits, a side that was physically very strong.
“It was tough out there, but we’re always capable of finding that extra gear. And in the end, we got the job done. In Qatar, even when we were performing better than we did today, we still had to dig deep.”
The post-match setting brought back memories of Italia 1990. Back then, too, La Albiceleste came into the tournament as world champions and soon discovered that retaining their title would not be straightforward. Carlos Bilardo’s side lost their opening game to Cameroon, scraped through the group stage and built their campaign on grit: they got the better of Brazil despite being outplayed, edged past Yugoslavia and Italy on penalties, and made it all the way to the final.
They are not carbon-copy campaigns, but the link between the past and present lies in the path they have taken. Argentina are once again champions defined by their ability to overcome adversity, with a resilience that prevents them from giving up.
“We’ve adapted. No match has been a walk in the park. We’ve had to dig deep in every game, and we’ll have to keep doing so because this is a World Cup, where the smallest details count,” explained Nicolas Tagliafico, Argentina’s first-choice left-back, after the Switzerland game. “You don’t win football matches by playing well alone; you win them by fighting tooth and nail.”
After struggling through their ties against Cabo Verde and Egypt, Argentina once again found themselves in an awkward contest. Switzerland bounced back after Alexis Mac Allister’s early header and managed to tie the world champions in knots.
“We struggled to win the duels and even to string five or six passes together,” admitted Scaloni. “We came up against an opponent who really pushed us to our limits, a side that was physically very strong. We always seem to find that extra gear, and in the end we got the job done.”
“We’ve got that winning mentality,” Tagliafico said. “We might not be firing on all cylinders at the moment, or playing the way we believe we’re capable of, but we just keep plugging away and we keep achieving our objectives, which is to get through each round. Perhaps we’re not where we should be right now, but hard work has a habit of paying off and we keep finding a way to get through.”
Scaloni praised the work his coaching staff had put into set pieces, with former centre-back Walter Samuel the driving force behind it. “We’re a side that opponents need to be wary of. Perhaps that wasn’t the case before. We’re in a good place in that regard,” Scaloni said.
This Argentina team always seems to find a collective response when they get bogged down and Jose Manuel Lopez, who entered the fray with Argentina seeking a winner against 10-man Switzerland following Breel Embolo’s red card, spoke of "that extra edge" that decides matches. "We give it our all for our team-mates and, when technique, tactics and physicality fall short, we seem to find that extra edge that runs through our veins," Lopez said. "We’re a really tight-knit group.”
Julian Alvarez, who scored a sensational goal that finally opened up another hard-fought contest, focused on a similar quality: knowing how to dig deep. “These are do-or-die matches, where everyone leaves everything out on the pitch,” the Atletico Madrid forward said. “We know there’s room for improvement, but the team keeps giving everything until the bitter end.”
Argentina are aware of their flaws but are working through them and look to address them as they keep progressing. I know exactly what this group is made of," Scaloni said. "I know things were looking ominous even after they levelled things up, but we knew we had to keep digging deep. They have that mentality ingrained in them, and that gives me some peace of mind. In Qatar, we were inexperienced and those situations caught us out, but that’s no longer the case. That’s a weapon we have now that we didn’t have before.”
In Kansas City, La Albiceleste were celebrating again. “Argentina play like the champions they are,” said Switzerland coach Murat Yakin. Meanwhile, thousands of Argentinian supporters were singing in a city that had become a home from home for the world champions. Behind closed doors, the players celebrated reaching another milestone in a moment Tagliafico will never forget.
"It was a truly special moment," he said. "That’s the most important thing: feeling part of something bigger with the fans, with the feeling that we’re playing on home soil because every stadium is packed to the rafters with our supporters. For me, that’s one of the best things about these victories: sharing them with the fans, knowing they’re so proud of us and keeping this run going."
Sources: FIFA Official
