Football

World Cup 2022: Scaloni has decided on the strategy to tame France and Mbappe

Argentina and France beckon on history as they meet at the Lusail Iconic Stadium. The defending champions are favourites to take the gong but have a tough task to overcome against a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina. 

Messi, Modric

The neutral support will be with La Albiceleste thanks to Messi’s presence. On the other hand, Les Bleus will be spearheaded by all-time topscorer Olivier Giroud but it will be Kylian Mbappe on whom all eyes will be. 

Compared to Argentina, France has had to overcome stiffer challenges. They were made to work hard by England and were on the back foot against Morocco in the semi-finals as well. 

Early goals allowed them to take cruise control in these meetings, taking on pressure to get the job done. Meanwhile, both Croatia and Netherlands made La Albiceleste sweat. 

Lionel Scaloni and co. are prepared for the crunch meeting of their lives and shared they have their plans in place to tackle France. Their plans make the most of their strengths that hurt Les Bleus while giving them the best chance to shine.

Expect Argentina’s efforts reminiscent of their display against the Netherlands. However, they do not want the match to go to penalties and want to finish it within 90 minutes of regulation time.  

“We already decided the strategy and we will play in a way in which we think we can hurt our rivals the most and suffer the least,” Scaloni said.

“We have our gameplan, we know how to play them and now we just have to execute, and I hope we can play a similar game as we did against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals – but win the match without having to go through the pain of a penalty shootout.”

Argentina vs France not Messi vs Mbappe

Karim Benzema was in a battle to be fit for the Qatar 2022 final but failed in his attempts. This leaves Didier Deschamps to continue with his tried and tested combination of Giroud, Mbappe and Griezmann.

Giroud will want to build his lead as France’s all-time top scorer. Griezmann too will be looking to add to his legend as he makes his 74th successive fixture. The attacking trident is completed by Mbappe, who will surely look at his experienced partners’ record.

France

A second successive World Cup triumph will put him in the record books, well on course to emulate Pele’s illustrious career. When asked about how he plans to handle the danger posed by Mbappe on Sunday, Argentina’s coach Scaloni was evasive. 

The Argentine manager hailed the young French starlet, who will require a collective effort to stop him. However, he added that Les Bleus have more areas of a threat than the PSG forward and they will have to force a combined strategy to neutralize their threat. 

This will be Messi’s final World Cup appearance, his 26th across five editions. Scaloni wants it to be one to remember for La Pulga. However, he also rubbished claims that the meeting is a collision course between Mbappe and Messi, reinforcing that the headlines should be Argentina versus France.

“To stop Mbappe you need a collective effort. But France is more than just Mbappe. We need to focus on making a good game collectively.

“Sunday’s game is much more than Lionel Messi against Mbappe, it’s Argentina against France, it goes beyond that.

Argentina

“We both have the necessary weapons so that the game can be decided by other players and not necessarily the two of them. Let’s hope it falls on our side, but there are plenty of players who can decide the game.

“Let’s hope that if it’s Leo’s last game, that we can win the title. It would be great, and the important thing is to enjoy it. What better scenario than in a World Cup final.”


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