Despite its footballing heritage, Argentina has seen quite a few dark days in their long footballing history. They have lost the World Cup final three times, their superstar Diego Maradona has been suspended for drug use, they have suffered a 6-1 World Cup loss to Czechoslovakia, a 4-0 in a World Cup quarterfinal to Germany and even lost to archrivals Brazil in the 1982 edition.
Now Thursday’s game against Croatia can be added to that notorious list. The stakes may not have been as high, but the sight of a great footballing nation like Argentina being dismantled by Croatia was remarkable.
Nonetheless, Nigeria’s comprehensive victory over Iceland has given the Albiceleste hope of making the knockout stages. To do this, they will need to beat Nigeria- a game that may have seemed routine before the tournament but now feels like a coin flip.
After the thrashing against Croatia, manager Jorge Sampaoli will need to change his tactics if the Albiceleste are to progress into the Round of 16. His choice of a 3-4-2-1 vs Croatia proved disastrous as Argentina were exposed at the back and lacked tooth in attack.
While Argentina’ squad is ridiculously lopsided (amazing attack and mediocre midfield/defence), Sampaoli still has a number of tactical options open to him.