Nicolás Tagliafico spoke at a press conference before Argentina’s match vs. Croatia in the semi finals of the World Cup.
Tagliafico was the player who spoke to the media before the match. Here is what he had to say about Argentina being in the semi finals:
“The feelings are very positive. We are very happy to have reached one of our objectives, to be in the top four. We are working really hard to keep our objective. We are really happy but we are thinking about the upcoming match.”
When asked about the match vs. Croatia:
“Yesterday, we analyzed how Croatia plays. We know that they have great players, with great quality in midfield. They are very good, they are also tall and they can play in the midfield, make crosses, get to the area. We will have to pay attention to the details but we will also have our own weapons and try to hurt them.
“It has been 4 years now but despite all of it, w see Croatia. They are still in the final four and that means they have done great. They are a good team, a good squad. There are some similarities but they will have different players with different characteristics. We are also a different squad. This will be a completely different match compared to what happened four years ago. I think the match will be different.
“Obviously we know what we will be facing. This is a semi final. And the opponent has great players, we have to think of what we can do to hurt them,. And we need to focus on ourselves.”
About the last few minutes of a match:
“The last minutes are decisive. If you are losing, it will break your back. You will try to have players to draw and it is not easy to work on that. A situation is completely different depending on what you are living. And obviously, we know that that can happen. Anything can happen and we may suffer, this is something we have felt in previous matches. But we have to somehow find a way so that we don’t suffer that much. We will have to try to counter attack. But these are difficult moments but the good thing is we have lived this already.”
Regarding Lionel Messi:
“He has always been like this. For us, he is our captain, our leader. He is the one pushing us, motivating us. He gives us a special advantage on the pitch, we know we have Messi. And that is a great source of motivation. We are really happy to have him and with everyone’s support, we have our players, the coaching staff, we try to work in the same direction and to achieve our dreams and to do it with Messi by our side.”
If he spoke with anyone from the Netherlands team after the match:
“I didn’t talk with any of my former team mates. When the match ended, I did approach them and say hello but we didn’t talk. But I haven’t spoken with anyone yet.”
On Lionel Scaloni’s tactics:
“Sometimes we talk about a back four, back five but that depends on the game. And that is one of the features of the national team. Depending on the players, we can change formations, systems. And that can hurt the opponent.”
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