Argentina vs Australia, LIVE: lineups, what time it is and how to watch them live, minute by minute

The Argentina national team begins his participation in the second stage of the World Cup in Qatar: for the round of 16 tackle this Saturday from 4pm with Australia, which was the surprise of Group D after earning a round of 16 ticket behind France and leaving behind Tunisia and Denmark. The match will be refereed by Poland’s Szymon Marciniak and can be viewed on public TV screens, TyC Sports and DirecTV Sports.

For the transcendental comparison, Ángel Di María is practically excluded from integrating the main formation of the Argentine team and his replacement is not yet clear.

The technician Lionel Scaloni He did not take for granted the absence of Rosario’s winger, who ended last Wednesday’s match against Poland (2-0) with a quadriceps injury, for the last round of group C of the ecumenical event.

Furthermore, in the press conference that preceded the match, the Albiceleste coach allowed himself an amusing dialogue with an Argentine journalist who asked him who would be the replacement for the Juventus player who, in his opinion, suffers from “a contracture”. .

“I see you have more information than me,” he said amused to his colleague, although he stressed that “we’ll wait for Ángel until the last minute.”

The truth is that the player who emerged in Rosario Central is not “100 percent physically” and, therefore, would not be risky in the match against the Oceanics, scheduled at the Ahmed bin Ali stadium in Al Rayyán.

The practice, which opens by order of FIFA one day after each commitment, started without the participation of Di María, who found himself with a muscle overload in his left quadriceps and remained in the gym to train for a while longer. Meanwhile, his teammates, led by Lionel Messi, carried out some passes with and without the ball under the supervision of physical trainer Luis Martín.

However, a few minutes later, Fideo entered Field 1 of the Qatar University ground along with one of the campus kinesiologists. At that time there was still hypothesis of a possible presence of him, but as the hours passed, his participation was reduced to nothing.

Di Maria’s appearance came just before FIFA officials brought the curtain down on the training session. At the moment, Scaloni started distributing the bibs to start the tactical work. There, craning his neck, the coach could be seen giving them to eleven players on the field. It was not necessary to tell Emiliano Dibu Martínez that he presented a new look (he dyed his hair with a mini-flag of Argentina) and worked on another field together with the other goalkeepers, Gerónimo Rulli and Franco Armani, and his sparring partner accompanying them, Federico Gomes Herth.

Who did he give the bibs to? The other nine who started against Poland on Wednesday (Nahuel Molina, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi, Marcos Acuña, Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez) have been added Alejandro Papu Gomez and Angel Correa. They are two players with different characteristics who can play on the right wing of the attack to try to hide Di María’s absence.

For Papu Gómez it would be a possible new opportunity after starting against Saudi Arabia, while for Angelito, one of the last to enter the list after Nicolás González’s farewell due to injury, it would mean his debut in the World Cup. Later, the DT also tested a team with Lautaro Martinez instead of Noodles.

Scaloni had hinted at the press conference that the scheme used in the 2-0 victory over Robert Lewandowski and his companions had been agreed. A 4-3-3, with Messi as a false 9, very popular for intensity and performance, on the field of 974, the picturesque container stadium. Hence the idea of ​​testing these three players with different characteristics to see if they fit into this approach.

However, he wasn’t entirely satisfied. This is why the technical staff manages a plan B. He also liked the draw he used in the last minutes of the match against Poland. And then the one who could enter through the man who emerged in Rosario Central is Leandro Paredes.

Like this, I could go back to 4-4-2 which he used in the first games, albeit with other interpreters. In this case the back four would be the same (Molina, Cuti Romero, Otamendi and Acuña), but there would be variations in midfield because Enzo Fernández would play wide on the right and Mac Allister would do the same on the left, with De Paul and Paredes still together to divide the central circle. There is nothing left but to wait. Scaloni continues to think.