Under-pressure Sampaoli with everything at stake

Macdara Ferris reports from St. Petersburg

Under-pressure Argentinia manager Jorge Sampaoli hit out at his team’s critics and turned to uncapped Franco Armani to play in goal as Willy Cabellero looks set to be dropped for his dismal World Cup displays.

Argentina know they must beat Nigeria if they are to have any hope of getting to the knockout stages.

Should they beat Nigeria and Iceland fail to win against Croatia, then Argentina will go through. If both Argentina and Iceland win, then La Albiceleste must win by a larger margin than Iceland to make it the last 16.

The knives were out for Sampaoli after his side’s 3-0 capitulation to Croatia in their last game. The manager confirmed there were some arguments after that defeat but that his team are focussed on beating Nigeria.

“It has been a very difficult week after that painful defeat,” said Sampaoli. “We now find ourselves in the last match with everything at stake.

“When there is a defeat, of course there are complaints and people argue with one another. There is always a discussion. That has been the same everywhere that I’ve worked.”

He said he has mainly stayed away from social media and ‘the virtual world,’ where there have been plenty of rumours flying after Argentina’s poor showing in this World Cup, beginning with the 1-1 draw with Iceland.

“In Argentina we have such passion for football,” said Sampaoli, who led Chile in 2015 to their only Copa America title.

“We have to understand that there are so many comments and stories going around.

“Some are supposedly true and we don’t know which are true or which are lies. This team is determined to win this match, move to the last 16 and start a new chapter in this World Cup.

“I try and not pay attention to the virtual world but it isn’t that easy. Sometimes people in the virtual world make you feel like a criminal after a defeat.”

Key for Argentina, unsurprisingly, is to give Leo Messi more of the ball than the last match, when he touched the ball a mere 47 times.

“I think that match was complicated for Leo Messi and the structure of the game didn’t favour him,” Sampaoli said about the game against Croatia.

“He didn’t get a lot of balls from the midfield and that was a mistake. If he got it less, it was because Argentina didn’t dominate the game as we did against Iceland.

“We are sure that won’t happen tomorrow and I’m sure Messi will have a lot more of the ball than the last match.

“If we look at the game against Croatia, until that mistake and the goal, I think the match was being dominated by Argentina.

“Things opened up after that goal and that is when our performance dropped. We lost control of the game. They dictated the pace and the mood of the game.”

No mercy for Messi from Nigeria who look to make it Leo's last World Cup game https://t.co/mk90irgY4zpic.twitter.com/yKNsdX9duK

— Extratime.ie (@ExtratimeNews) June 25, 2018

Cabellero’s mistake for Croatia’s opening goal seemed to have sealed his fate.

While Sampaoli wouldn’t confirm his team for the game against Nigeria, he brought River Plate player Franco Armani with him to the pre-match press conference, a major hint that he will be handed a debut in St. Petersburg on Tuesday.

31-year-old Armani played for Colombian side Atletico Nacional in Medellin for eight seasons before moving to River last year.

He only made the World Cup squad after goalkeeper Sergio Romero picked up an injury towards the end of his season with Manchester United.

Armani described it “as a dream to be at a World Cup” but there is huge pressure on a player who has no international experience at all.

It is a big call for Sampaoli, who must be praying that his selected ‘keeper makes no mistakes and that Leo Messi puts in a display that can drive his team into the knock out stages.