Kun's take on Argentina classifying for R16
After Argentina secured a place in the Round of 16 and the pole position of Group C with 2-0 win over Polonia, Sergio appeared on ESPN's studios in Doha to analyse the match, share his thoughts on the team's present and future challenges.
Sergio praised the Albiceleste's showing, particularly highlighting the team's composure and Nicolas Otamendi's performance. "The boys are more confident. They shook the pressure off and believed in themselves. Our midfield and defensive game wore Lewandowski out – transporting the ball across the place." He made special mention of Di Maria's contributions: "He was key. If Angel got the ball, he would push their whole midfield and defenders back during the face-off." Regarding Julian Alvarez, he stated that the forward "played very well – he wasn't playing as a 9 and could move differently. He wasn't always there for some crosses, but when he was off the ball he was moving all over the place. Lautaro's ability is to clamp down the two centre-backs."
Regarding the team's recovery, Sergio made note of the reaction to the opener match of the World Cup and Messi's missed penalty in the first half of the Poland game, comparing it with the situation in the 2018 World Cup after the loss against Iceland. "When Messi missed his shot on the Russia debut, we collapsed... but it was different this time. Messi was confident and shook it off. The penalty was kicked expertly. Szczęsny flinched first as he always does, but Lio shot well and the goalie covered it well. If you shoot a lot of penalties, goalies get to know how you do it. It's tough for Messi. I've shot 50 and I didn't know where to go next. You've shot 20 here, 20 there, 5 to the middle... he made a crossed shot and a hard one at that, that was a good kick."
Kun didn't go as far as to name Argentina as one of the top candidates to win the World Cup, but he said Brazil and Spain are well positioned. Finally, he made a mention of the upcoming Australia match, comparing it with the Switzerland face-off in Brazil 2014: "Argentina is obviously favoured, but it isn't going to be a cakewalk."
