DOHA, Qatar — Lionel Scaloni has hit back at suggestions Argentina resorted to underhand tactics during their World Cup quarterfinal against Netherlands.
Argentina face Croatia in the first semifinal on Tuesday after needing a penalty shootout to knock out Netherlands following a fiery 2-2 draw which featured 17 yellow cards and one red.
There were a number of confrontations between players and staff, both on the pitch and in the tunnel after the game, but Scaloni said his team had not been deliberately provocative.
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“I want to finish with this topic,” Scaloni told a news conference on Monday. “We played the game in the way we had to play. It was both teams, Argentina and Netherlands, but that’s football. You have to defend and attack and in games things can happen. Arguments can happen and that’s why there’s a referee.
“We have to put an end to the idea of thinking Argentina is that sort of behaviour.
“We have respect for Netherlands and now we have respect for Croatia. We lost to Saudi Arabia and didn’t say anything.
