@BeeThousand
Very good observation! Argentina wins 1-0 or 2-1! Then semifinal with Brazil! But good thing is that there will be a South American team in the final again! I hope South America wins it again, either Brazil or Argentina! Although, I’ve always rooted for Argentina!! Vamos Argentina!!
Not sure a team with Messi in it ever gets "slept on".
I think that xG is misleading. If you watched all their games you'd perhaps have a different opinion.
Saudi Arabia had an xG of 0.15 which tells you everything about how much they deserved that win. They are a poor side and showed that by failing to build off that upset. Then Mexico proceeded to just gift Argentina the win by applying zero pressure to Argentina's backline and rather than pressing them high which the Saudi's proved worked so well, Martino just had them sit deep. Obviously he wanted the 0-0, but by the time Argentina scored their first goal there was no response from Mexico and they barely threatened Argentina. Poland were much the same knowing that a draw would ensure their progress and even a narrow loss would suffice. They never even got out of their own half to even try to attack Argentina.
Finally in the round of 16 Argentina were gifted probably the least talented team of all teams to advance. At least South Korea have Son a proven Premier League player with ample goal threat. Who does Australia have? Washed up reserve players from the Bundesliga, a J-League forward and a sprinkling of other players from their local league. I mean keeping Australia to zero shots was the least you could expect from Argentina in a game where they completely dominated possession. It wasn't until the last 15 minutes that a profligate Australian attack actually made this Argentina team look nervous and shaky at the back.
Call me not convinced haha.
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