Jorge Sampaoli spared for now as Lionel Messi and Marcos Rojo give Argentina lift-off

We’ve done it | Lionel Messi celebrates with Marcos Rojo after the Manchester United defender’s late winner
GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images
James Olley27 June 2018

Jorge Sampaoli was not about to let the moment pass after one of the most turbulent weeks of his career.

Many of the Argentina supporters who descended on the St Petersburg Stadium to witness an enthralling and dramatic win over Nigeria to reach the last 16 were still singing jubilantly inside the arena as the head coach took his detractors to task from a position, finally, of relative strength.

Speculation was rife that the 58-year-old survived a player revolt to keep his job for this game but at a high price of allowing the squad to influence team selection and tactics, reverting as they did here to 4-3-3 after facing Croatia with three at the back. The sight of Sampaoli sat in the dug-out early for the second half while Lionel Messi addressed his team-mates in the tunnel did little to alter the impression.

Yet, after Marcos Rojo’s stunning late volley set up a clash with France on Saturday afternoon, Sampaoli rounded on those who had forecast his demise.

“The media really needs to satisfy popular needs,” he said. “They simply say what people want to hear and this requires a very deep analysis. It would be interesting to know why things happen, why media fight to tell these sort of stories. I don’t think it is only the media’s fault, to be honest, it is also what audiences expect. People really expect that sort of thing.”

Sampaoli was keen to talk up a post-match embrace with Messi as evidence of team unity, but for long periods of the second half following Victor Moses’ 51st-minute equaliser from the penalty spot, Argentina looked the blunted, traumatised outfit that had secured just one point from games against Iceland and Croatia.

They are flawed, but at least they are still fighting. The suspicion remains they often fight with each other, too, but as long as they have Messi engaged and involved, Argentina will always have a chance.

“When Leo came and hugged me I felt very proud and happy because he knows that I am very passionate every single day,” said Sampaoli. “I have had the possibility to travel with him and share many moments with him also before the World Cup. He knows me well and he knows we have this common dream to come to Russia and do something important for Argentina.

“Messi, every single time he plays, he shows that he is a fantastic player. He is above anybody else but he needs the support from his team-mates. Only then will he be able to play at his best, like he did today, most of the time in the match. The most important thing for Leo is his human side. His human side is amazing. He is a person who feels, who cries, who suffers, who is happy when Argentina wins.”

The problem is, Messi is required to produce at least one moment of magic per game - and even then it might not be enough.

Argentina had not started particularly well, but once Messi collected Ever Banega’s pass and fired at goal with that typically irresistible blend of style and certainty, the game was moulded in his image. Delirium permeated the stands, overwhelmingly populated with blue and white, yet somehow Maradona still set the benchmark for emotional expression, ranging from the comical to the downright offensive when Rojo spared Argentina’s blushes four minutes from time.

Rojo claimed afterwards that Messi had urged him forwards moments before, underlining the extent to which the 31-year-old orchestrates almost everything about this side.

Despite needing a goal and barely looking like getting one aside from a poor Gonzalo Higuain miss a few minutes before Rojo struck, Sampaoli only gave Sergio Aguero 10 minutes in which to make a difference.

Aguero’s absence was supposedly a consequence of the internal unrest that has dogged their campaign to date, but surely he must return for Saturday’s clash against France.

It was a mark of the transformative effect this result had that the final exchange in Sampaoli’s press conference was not so much a question and more a statement of hope. “We don’t know each other but it is wonderful to see you happy,” began the Argentine reporter. “Today you have shown, with the team, the players, that you can do more, you can be a great coach and I would like to congratulate you.”

Sampaoli smiled before replying: “My style is being close to my players and understanding often the coach’s ego doesn’t allow him to understand what is happening with his players. It is important to go through different phases with the national team because that way you can improve for the future.”

This group phase has been particularly fraught, but Argentina’s mixture of class and chaos lives to fight another day.

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