Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni admitted his side did not play well despite battling past Switzerland 3-1 after extra time to reach the World Cup semi-finals on 12 July, insisting the ability to endure difficult moments has become a defining trait of his squad.
Alexis Mac Allister headed Argentina in front from a Lionel Messi corner before Dan Ndoye levelled for Switzerland, setting up a tense contest that was only settled deep in extra time through goals from Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez.
Scaloni was candid about his team’s struggles against a physical Swiss side that made life difficult throughout.
“The truth is that we struggled today. They were a very physical team and that put us in a lot of difficulty,” he said.
“We didn’t play well and we have to acknowledge that. It helped us that they got one sent off and we were able to pull it through,” he added, while stressing there remained plenty to improve despite the result going Argentina’s way.
The coach pointed to the team’s growing experience of navigating chaos in knockout football, having already come from two goals down against Egypt in the round of 16 and twice surrendered leads to Cape Verde earlier in the tournament.
“We knew that we were going to suffer. This is part of our blood, part of our DNA, and it brings peace of mind,” Scaloni said.
He drew a direct line to Argentina’s title win in Qatar four years ago, saying the squad’s composure in tight moments had grown since then.
“In Qatar we were not that experienced, myself included, and those situations were very difficult,” he said. “Now we know what it feels like to be dominated and to concede an equaliser, so today we kept our composure.”
Scaloni also praised the depth of his squad and the unity built over six weeks together at the tournament, describing the group as one that has fully trusted his methods, and singled out Mac Allister for special praise following his goal.
The win secures a sixth semi-final appearance for Argentina in their last six major tournaments, a landmark Scaloni admitted he had not considered until it was put to him.
Argentina will now face England, who beat Norway in their quarter-final, in the last four. Scaloni said his focus for now was purely on recovery.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s England or Norway, we will be facing a team that plays good football with a great coach. Now we need to recover our fitness, because that’s the most important thing right now,” he said.
