Argentina must blend grit with guile, says coach Scaloni

Coach Lionel Scaloni said Argentina needed to play some football as well as show the grit and determination that has become their trademark in Thursday's World Cup semifinal against England.

Despite Lionel Messi's eight goals, the world champions have not enjoyed a smooth ride to the last four and really had to scrap to get past Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland in their knockout matches.

That reassured Scaloni that he could take the fight in his team for granted, but he said they would need to show other qualities against an England team featuring in-form attackers Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.

"They're two great players, among the best in the world. They're players any coach would like to have," he told reporters at Atlanta Stadium on Tuesday.

"We'll try to neutralise them with our own weapons and keep them from having a good game. We have our game plan and we hope to carry it out tomorrow.

"Desire and ambition we have in abundance. We need to play football, to play with the ball, which is where we've always been strongest," he added.

"What we need is for the players, especially the ones who have led us to play great football, to be seen tomorrow."

EXPERIENCED ARGENTINA SQUAD

The Albiceleste have reached the semis at two World Cups and three Copa Americas since Scaloni took over as coach in 2018 and he thought his squad would be better on Wednesday for having been there and done that.

"We have a little bit of experience playing these kind of games," he said. "It doesn't give you a real advantage, but perhaps it brings you into the game with a bit more calm and that's something that we've earned.

"We're joyful, pleased, anxious, excited, and we want to celebrate with our people," he added. "We want to give them the joy of seeing their national team play their hearts out.

"Obviously, our opponent is a great team as well. Nothing will be easy. Nothing will be given, and we'll try to get to the final. And we're going to try to enjoy the game."

Scaloni said all his squad were available for a match redolent with political overtones because of the 1982 war between Britain and Argentina in the South Atlantic.

"The truth is, this is a football match," Scaloni said. "I can't mix things, especially out of respect for what happened so many years ago.

"That was a very sad period in our history. And there isn't much we can do about that — that's the truth — and this is a football match, nothing more."