Argentina will 'break our backs' to beat Australia in World Cup

Manager Scaloni again complains about playing schedule ahead of last-16 clash on Saturday

Argentina's Julian Alvarez celebrates scoring the second goal in the 2-0 Group C win against Poland at Stadium 974 on November 30, 2022. Reuters

Argentina's Alexis Mac Allister celebrates after scoring the first goal. Getty

Argentina's Alexis Mac Allister celebrates with teammates after scoring. Getty

Alexis Mac Allister, No 20, celebrates after scoring. AP

Alexis Mac Allister of Argentina celebrates after scoring. Getty

Lionel Messi after getting fouled by Wojciech Szczesny. Getty

Poland players congratulate Wojciech Szczesny after he saved a Lionel Messi penalty. Getty

Wojciech Szczesny after saving Messi's penalty. Getty

Julian Alvarez celebrates after scoring the second goal for Argentina. Getty

Julian Alvarez celebrates with teammates. Getty

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni says his team will “break our backs” to get past Australia on Saturday and book a place in the World Cup quarter-finals.

The South America champions, who topped Group C, take on their Asian Football Confederation counterparts at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium as the last-16 kicks into gear.

Scaloni has highlighted the short turnaround between Saturday’s match and their final group game against Poland in Wednesday, which he previously labelled “absolute madness”.

On Friday afternoon, the Argentine told reporters the team had yet to even train for Australia, as they attempt to avoid another shock in a World Cup thus far full of upsets.

“Australia, who finished second in the group, played at 6pm [on Wednesday] and we finished first [in our group] but played at 10pm,” Scaloni said. “We went to bed at 4am and that has an impact when you have a game in 48 hours.

“We will break our backs on this pitch to compete. We know how difficult this World Cup is; this is football.

“We saw what happened yesterday [when Japan defeated Spain to eliminate Germany and world No 2 Belgium crashed out] but this is not surprising. When you say big national teams deserve to be in the next stage, that doesn't always happen.”

Scaloni suggested Angel Di Maria would be fit to feature against Australia after the winger was taken off with injury in the 2-0 win against Poland. However, the manager said he still did not have the “complete picture”.

“If you've seen our matches, you know I don't always play the same players,” Scaloni said. “I focus on every single match and adapt the team for the match. Very rarely have I repeated the starting XI.

“What's important is everyone knows what they need to do. We will go match-by-match and won't always play the same team if it isn't necessary.”

Poland 0 Argentina 2: Player ratings

POLAND RATINGS: Wojciech Szczesny, 7 – The Juventus goalkeeper saved a penalty- his second already at this World Cup - from Lionel Messi and produced a handful of other top saves. Getty

Matty Cash, 5 – Looked far too weak to his man for the second goal and outside of that, he was dragged out of position every few minutes. Getty Images

Kamil Glik, 6 – His desperate defending sometimes paid dividends but the veteran’s spatial awareness could use some work. AP Photo

Jakub Kiwior, 4 – Stood watching for the first goal and had a crazy rest of the game featuring a big block off the line and a terrible back pass. AFP

DF Bartosz Bereszynski, 4 – Played Argentina onside for the opening goal and showed an incredible lack of composure throughout. AP Photo

Piotr Zielinski, 5 – Was left chasing shadows and was unable to really influence the overall attacking flow - of which there was precious little. AFP

Krystian Bielik, 5 – Was dispossessed far too easily in midfield and went missing in challenges far, far too often. Getty Images

Grzegorz Krychowiak, 5 – Picked up a silly yellow card, struggled to command respect in the middle of the park and was fairly drab. AP Photo

Przemyslaw Frankowski, 6 – While he stands himself up well under pressure, Frankowski continually dropped off his man and left gaps. EPA

Robert Lewandowski, 6 – The star Barcelona forward was completely boxed out of the match and was barely given a chance to shine. EPA

Karol Swiderski, 4 – Hardly touched the ball, offered nothing in the final third. AFP

Jakub Kaminski, 5 – His build-up play over the half-way line was solid but the lack of an end product hurt his overall game. AFP

Damian Szymanski, 5 – Stood watching for the second goal and offered very little going forward. Reuters

Michal Skoras, 6 – Won a nice free kick and that was really all she wrote from yet another unforgettable cameo. Getty Images

Artur Jedrzejczyk, N/A – Did very little of note outside of a few shuffles off of the ball under Argentine pressure. AFP

Krzysztof Piatek, N/A – An uneventful performance as he never really got on the ball upon being introduced. AFP

ARGENTINA RATINGS: Emiliano Martinez 6 - Kept a 15th clean sheet in his past 18 Argentina games. Poland were so disappointing they didn’t have a shot on target. Getty

Nahuel Molina 7 - Alert to cross quickly for the opening goal after he overlapped with Messi and pulled the ball back. It was the final ball they’d missed in the first half. AFP

Cristian Romero - 7 The centre-half stepped up in front of the 44,089 crowd. Intercepted well when he needed to. AFP

Nicolas Otamendi 7 - Comfortable against the tired Poles. Argentina had 73% of possession and complete control of the game. AFP

Marcos Acuna 7 - Shot across the face of the goal on 28 minutes with a sweet left foot shot. Booked for a poor tackle and subbed. AFP

Rodrigo De Paul 7 - Dominated and created chances, yet unconvincing at the same time. Fantastic tackle after 51. Far more touches than any other player. AFP

Enzo Fernandez 8 - Debut game in the World Cup finals for the 21-year-old after he scored against Saudi Arabia. Set up the second goal down the middle. EPA

Alexis Mac Allister 8 - Scored his first international goal to put Argentina ahead, a low strike into the corner. Worked hard, lots of running. Fine season for his club with Brighton and now for his country. AP Photo

Angel Di Maria 7 - Effective down the right and had a couple of shots on target too in his 127th game for his country. AFP

Lionel Messi 9 - A record 22nd World Cup appearance for Argentina. Won a soft penalty on 37 minutes which was brilliantly saved by the superb Szczesny. Six attempts on target, quick feet and excellent passing throughout, but no goals. EPA

Julian Alvarez 7 - Looked like he’d scored after 28 minutes but his shot was blocked. A second shot by the Manchester City striker was saved on 35. Doubled the lead on 67, an excellent finish. Should have scored on 73 when he shot into side netting, but impressive. AP Photo

SUBS: Leandro Paredes 6 - On for Di Maria after 59 mins for an easy run against the lethargic Poles. AFP

Nicolas Tagliafico 7 - On for Acuna after 59 mins, the Lyon left-back surged forward and came close to scoring his first international goal. EPA

German Pezzella NA - the Betis central defender came on for Fernandez after 79 mins. Getty

Lautaro Martinez NA - On for Alvarez after 79 mins, Argentina’s other Martinez started the first two games but came off the bench for this win. Dragged an excellent shot wide after a terrible Polish back pass. EPA

Thiago Almada NA - On for Macallister after 83 mins, the 21-year-old became the first MLS player to play for Argentina in the World Cup finals. Reuters

Like Argentina, Australia rebounded from an opening-day defeat to win their next two matches and progress to the last 16. In doing so, Graham Arnold’s side ensured the country made the knockout stages for the first time since 2006.

Argentina midfielder Rodrigo De Paul agreed with Scaloni that his team should be wary of their tag as favourites for the match, saying they had studied Australia’s victories against Tunisia and Denmark.

“It will be a similar game to that of Poland,” De Paul said. “We'll have the ball, but they'll have wide players on the flanks – coverage will be important.

“I think it's a very fast team, focusing on wide players, and they have tall centre backs as well. I think we shouldn't make fouls near the area.

“They have very fast wingers, and their main strength is their counter-attack, so we need to be very careful. We shouldn't be on the back foot. It will be difficult for our midfield and defence so our forwards are free to roam.”

Meanwhile, Arnold declared his team would go into the match with “all guns blazing”. The Australian said the side's success to this point has been reward for a taxing qualifying campaign.

Because of Covid-19 restrictions, Australia were forced to play the majority of their matches away from home, including five in Qatar. In June, they came through the inter-continental play-off there to reach the global finals.

Mathew Leckie celebrates scoring the only goal of the game for Australia against Denmark in the World Cup group-stage match at Al Janoub Stadium in Qatar, on November 30, 2022. Reuters

Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel is beaten by Mathew Leckie's strike that earned Australia victory. Getty

Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen. AP

Mathew Leckie fires home for Australia. AP

Referee Mustapha Ghorbal shows a yellow card to Australia's Aziz Behich in the first half. AFP

Denmark's Mathias Jensen shoots at goal. Getty

Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and Riley McGree keep their eyes on the ball. AFP

Australia's Mathew Leckie celebrates scoring Riley McGree. Reuters

Australia's Aaron Mooy and Mathew Leckie challenge Joakim Maehle of Denmark. EPA

Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel punches clear. Reuters

Australia's Milos Degenek is shown a yellow card. AP

“The universe is paying us back for the hard work we put in,” Arnold said. “We played four games out of 20 at home, and we had some hard journeys. But Covid helped unite this team together; these boys were in lockdown in hotels.

“The fact we played five qualifiers in Qatar gave us experience of being here, and now we’ve won six out of seven games in Qatar. For us, it’s a home from home.

“One thing we have achieved is bringing light to the nation after Covid and reuniting our sport. We’ve seen the scenes of celebration and it really makes everyone proud, and we want more.

“We haven’t finished yet. We are turning up to win another game tomorrow.”

On Argentina, Arnold added: “Look, the group games are past us and it’s a one-off game, anything could happen. It’s 11 versus 11, a battle, a war and we’ve got to fight that. We’ll give it everything, all guns blazing.

“We respect Argentina, for sure, but we can’t focus solely on them. We respect them but we respect ourselves and what we bring to the table.”