FIFA World Cup’s Round of 16 kicks off tomorrow, with Argentina facing Australia on opening day. Argentina qualified for the last 16 from Group C. They became the Group champion despite losing their first game. On the other side, Australia secured a place in the Round of 16 from Group D, being the 2nd team.
Records and Forms
Tomorrow’s clash between Australia and Argentina will be the first World Cup meeting between the two teams. However, Argentina played only one friendly against Australia in 2007, where the Albiceleste defeated the Socceroos by a 1-0 margin.
But Australia’s recent form is very strong. They had the same points as France, the group champion of Group D. Australia won two games and lost one. On the other hand, Argentina also lost a game in Group C against Saudi Arabia. However, the Albiceleste won the remaining two matches to become the champion of Group C.
Team News
Argentina’s manager Lionel Scaloni changed his squad in all three games they played in the FIFA World Cup. It is expected that Scaloni would make two or three changes against Australia.
However, Angel Di Maria played all the games for Argentina in this world cup. Unfortunately, he might miss the clash against Australia due to injury. Di Maria got a knock during the match against Poland and was forced to leave the pitch in the second half. So, Lautaro Martinez could be back in the starting lineup.
The Possible Lineup for Argentina:
E. Martinez; Molina, Otamendi, Romero, Tagliafico; Mac Allister, Fernandez, De Paul; Alvarez, Messi, Lautaro Martinez
The Possible Lineup for Australia:
Ryan; Karacic, Souttar, Rowles, Behich; Mooy; Leckie, Irvine, McGree, Goodwin; Duke
“It’s not an honour to play against Messi,” says Miloš Degenek.
Australia’s defender Miloš Degenek talked about Lionel Messi and Argentina in the pre-match press conference. He said, “I am a big fan of Messi. But I’d love to win the World Cup probably more than [I’d love] him to win the World Cup.”
“They’re obviously driven by the motivation that it could be Messi’s last World Cup, and he wants to win it and end on a high,” Degenek says. “For us, it’s to stop that.
“I’ve always loved Messi. I think he’s the greatest to ever play the game. [But] it’s not an honour to play against him, because he’s just a human, as we all are. It’s an honour to be in the round of 16 of a World Cup. Whether we played Argentina or Poland, it still would’ve been an honour to represent Australia in the round of 16 of a World Cup,” Degenek stated.