Argentina coach Javier Mascherano said he had chosen to ‘move on’ and ‘concentrate’ on ‘football’ after the 3-1 win over Iraq, despite the tense context surrounding the Argentine national team.
Asked about the interrupted match against Morocco on Wednesday and the theft of one of his players, the coach replied: “No, we haven’t talked about that. There are two options: either you stand still, or you move forward and concentrate on what you can control, which is playing football. That’s what I suggested: play the best football“, he said after Saturday’s win, which came after a 2-1 defeat to Morocco.
Player Thiago Almada lodged a complaint about the theft of jewellery in Saint-Étienne, worth an estimated €50,000, on the eve of the match against the Moroccans. With this victory, Argentina are back in the race for the quarter-finals.
In the quarter-finals, the team-mates of world champion Julian Alvarez could face France, in a tense context, a few days after a racist chant was sung by the Argentine players to celebrate their victory in the Copa America.
If Thierry Henry’s France finish top of Group A and Argentina finish second in Group B, the two teams will meet in the quarter-finals in Bordeaux.
“‘We have to play Ukraine first (on Tuesday), it will be a final for us. We’re not thinking about the next round”, said Mascherano.
On Saturday, in a stadium that was two-thirds full and sympathetic to the Iraqi cause, the Argentinians were whistled at several times, notably during the national anthem.