It’s difficult to see how this benefits the team.
Remember France at the 2010 World Cup? They cheated their way to South Africa thanks to Thierry Henry’s outstretched hand at Ireland’s expense, only to implode in spectacular fashion once they got to the tournament.
Four years on from reaching the final in 2006, a spate of rows and resignations plunged Les Bleus into disgrace. Raymond Domenech, the head coach, became the subject of ridicule after his players, led by Patrice Evra, refused to train following the French Football Federation’s decision to send Nicolas Anelka home.
The striker was punished for reportedly telling Domenech to go ‘fuck himself’ at half-time during France’s defeat to Mexico.
It seems something similar is brewing in the Argentina camp in Russia. The South Americans are dangling by a thread after having picked up just one point from their opening two games against Iceland and Croatia.
Although the two-time champions can still technically qualify if they beat Nigeria and Iceland don’t get a result against Croatia, there are astonishing reports that the Argentine players asked the coach, Jorge Sampaoli, to step aside immediately following their disastrous 3-0 defeat to Croatia.
According to reports in the Argentine media, their federation’s president, Claudio Tapia, told Sampaoli that he had lost control of the dressing room.
Now on @TyCSports reports that the squad have broken their relation with Jorge Sampaoli and the coach is no longer making decisions. Por dios 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/5CZuw2JejD
— GOLAZO (@golazoargentino) June 23, 2018
Argentine outlet TyC Sports, who went viral for holding a minute’s silence following the defeat to Croatia, are reporting that the players are no longer listening to Sampaoli. While things have not gone smoothly so far, staging a coup against the coach does not end well, as France demonstrated to catastrophically eight years ago.
The coach has been heavily criticised for his tactics – or lack thereof – during the first two games. Sampaoli, who took charge last year, has failed to establish a clear footballing identity while he has failed to implement a system which takes the pressure off Lionel Messi as the team’s main source of inspiration.
Against Croatia, Messi seemed isolated and struggled to influence the game. Sampaoli assumed full responsibility.
Argentina face Nigeria in a must-win game on Tuesday night. Whether Sampaoli is still in charge by then, however, remains to be seen.
