Scaloni excited to take on his idol Van Gaal
Lionel
Scaloni said he was looking forward to taking on Netherlands coach Louis van
Gaal in the World Cup quarter-finals after his Argentina side beat Australia
2-1 on Saturday.
Goals from
Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez gave Argentina a winning cushion at the Ahmad
bin Ali stadium in Qatar before an Enzo Fernandez own goal set up a frantic
finish.
Argentina
will face the Dutch in the last eight on Friday after the Netherlands beat the
United States 3-1 earlier in the day.
It will give
Scaloni, 44, the chance to come up against a coach he already idolised when he
was still a player.
"I was
at Deportivo La Coruna when he was Barcelona coach and he was already an
leading figure, I'm proud to take him on, everyone knows what he's done for
football," said Scaloni of the 71-year-old Van Gaal.
Scaloni was
actually part of the Deportivo side that pipped Van Gaal's Barcelona to the La
Liga title in 2000.
He said this
Dutch side is not as talented as previous generations but will nonetheless
provide Argentina with a stern test.
"It's
not as brilliant as previous Dutch teams, but they are very clear on what they
do," said Scaloni.
"It
will be a great match between two historic teams. One will be knocked out, we
hope we go through."
The
Argentina coach paid tribute to a plucky Socceroos side who pushed their more
illustrious opponents all the way, even forcing goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez
into a late save to prevent the tie heading into extra-time.
"We're
satisfied, above all because today's match was very difficult, their pressing
was asphyxiating," said Scaloni, who felt Argentina should have put the
game to bed and saved themselves the nervy finale.
"The
team didn't deserve those closing minutes because we had chances to increase
the lead," he added.
And he paid
tribute to Argentine fans who once again took over the majority of the stadium
in Qatar and created a vibrant atmosphere throughout the game.
"It is
a true injection of morale, I would like the whole world to experience what a
player feels when he goes to these people."
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