Despite Lionel Messi missing two penalties at the World Cup, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni insisted on Friday that he has no intention of appointing a different spot-kick taker ahead of Saturday's quarter-final against Switzerland.
Messi missed from the spot against Austria in the group stage and again in the last-16 clash with Egypt, when Argentina staged a remarkable comeback from two goals down with 11 minutes remaining to win 3-2.
The Albiceleste captain, the tournament's joint-leading scorer alongside Kylian Mbappé with eight goals, continues to show a weakness from the penalty spot – despite his talents, he has converted only four of his eight World Cup spot-kicks in his career.
Key quotes from Scaloni's press conference
Messi can do 'whatever he wants on the pitch'
"It wouldn't even occur to me to tell him not to take the next one. He can do whatever he wants. We have other players who can take penalties, but he'll take it if he wants to, and if not, we'll see. He can do whatever he wants out there on the pitch."
'He'll be the best for as long as he wants to be'
"Leo runs more or less the same in every match. It's not that he's running more or less than before. The difference is that he's being much more decisive, and the team is helping him enormously. He did a lot of work with his fitness coach in preparation, and it's paying off.
"It's obvious he's giving everything he has. That doesn't surprise me. Perhaps people who don't know him expected that, at 39, he wouldn't still be at this level. But as long as he wants to keep playing, he'll be the best. As long as he still has the desire, he'll be the best."
'Switzerland will be difficult'
"There are no easy opponents. We all know that. Switzerland are a very good side who compete with the best national teams and always rise to the occasion. They might win or lose, but they always compete. They have World Cup pedigree, experienced players and great physical strength. It will be difficult. They knocked out Colombia, who had been playing extremely well and whom we thought might make it this far alongside us."
Will he name the same starting XI?
"I've repeated the same line-up before, so it wouldn't be surprising if I did it again, although there could also be one or two changes. The idea is to play in a similar way to how we did against Egypt. Despite the madness of that match, I thought we did a lot of very good things and I liked what I saw."
Spain-France an early final?
"I haven't heard people saying Spain against France is an early final, but of course it is. They're two outstanding teams, two of the favourites, and unfortunately one of them will go out.
"Spain have grown into the tournament. Now they face a very tough test that I think will show exactly where both teams stand, and one of them will reach the final. They're doing things very well. They're a frightening side."
VAR, referring bias claims
Scaloni also dismissed claims that Argentina have benefited from refereeing decisions at the 2026 World Cup, saying instead that his players use such criticism as motivation to "rebel."
"With VAR it's very difficult for anyone to help you. There isn't room for different interpretations with VAR. They've made that crystal clear to us. Before the World Cup began, they showed us all the footage and explained exactly how it would work, and it's been applied to the letter."
Egypt, Argentina's last-16 opponents, complained two days ago of 'blatant refereeing errors' after their dramatic 3-2 defeat, in which the Albiceleste overturned a two-goal deficit late in the match.
Specifically, Egypt argued they should have been awarded a penalty and that a goal by Mostafa Zico early in the second half should not have been ruled out. At the time, Egypt were leading 1-0 when VAR advised French referee François Letexier to review the build-up, which included a foul by Marawan Attia on Lisandro Martínez.
"Lisandro was stood on. Whether it was a little, a lot or just slightly, it's still a foul," Scaloni said in response to those complaints. "There was no change of possession, so the goal had to be disallowed. There's no other interpretation. These days everything gets blown out of proportion on social media, and that's when the debate starts. But there's no favouritism. Quite the opposite. It's very difficult nowadays to favour anyone."
Hatred of Argentina?
Scaloni argued that accusations of favourable treatment long pre-date this tournament and are partly because more people want to see Argentina lose than other national teams.
"This didn't start now. People have been saying these things for as long as I can remember because Argentina are always among the teams challenging for the title. In a way, we use it to show the players that there are people who don't want Argentina to win. That's normal, just as there are people who don't want other teams to win. The difference is that perhaps there are many more people who don't want us to win, maybe because we won the last World Cup.
"We keep that in mind. The players hear it too, and we use it as a form of motivation, to make them rebel and play even better."
– TIMES/AFP
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