Three days after escaping their groups in dramatic fashion to advance to the round of 16, Argentina and Australia clash at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Saturday.
To Win Match
Argentina 1/5 | Draw 56/10 | Australia 15/1
Argentina overcame their uncharacteristic start to this year’s World Cup with a hard-earned victory over Mexico in their second Group C fixture and went on to secure a spot in the last 16 by hammering a limited Poland side on Wednesday.
Argentina, the Copa America champions were tipped as one of the favourites before they even boarded their plane to Qatar, only to have their expectations reduced by a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia. But their recovery is one to admire as they went to top their group with convincing victories against Mexico and Poland.
Argentina will always hope their ‘GOAT’ stays fit for the remainder of this tournament, following media reports that he has been training alone. While he and coach Lionel Scalani have downplayed these rumours, there also remains a concern over Angel Di Maria who was taken off against Poland as a precaution after feeling discomfort in his quadriceps.
Scalani has bemoaned the fact that his me will have to get back to action after just two days of rest, and fatigue will undoubtably be a concerning factor, but no excuses will be entertained, and he will have to call upon several talented players to shoulder much of the burden.
Coach Graham Arnold can expect to have the full complement of his squad at his disposal for this historic meeting. They came into this World Cup as Group D underdogs and unfancied to go beyond their three group matches. While the defeat to France was expected, the two wins over Tunisia and Denmark were definite shockers.
But Australia are a truly strong team with unbelievable determination. The gap between themselves and Argentina cannot be ignored, but having made it this far, they will certainly feel they can go toe-to-toe with La Albiceleste.
Their attacking qualities have not been the greatest to watch but I have certainly seen an improvement with each game they played so far. Granted, they have not managed over 2.5 goals scored in any of their games so far in Qatar, with just one out of three featuring over 2.5 total goals scored by both sides.
However, they have adopted a very low-key pattern of going about their tournament and will hope to give a good account of themselves in what is likely their last game of the competition. They face an Argentina side looking to go for a straight in and avoid a lengthy football match as they look to rest some key players ahead of their quarterfinal clash, potentially up against Spain or Brazil.
Verdict: Argentina (5/1)
Having done well to avoid facing France by topping Group C, Argentina will begin to believe that they can go far in this World Cup and take advantage of their re-found form and attacking fluency to reach the quarter-finals. If Messi and co can display their undoubted quality in the final third, there should surely be only one winner.
