BUENOS AIRES: L Lionel and Argentina’s stars will have to take “risks” to beat Colombia and keep their World Cup hopes alive, coach Edgardo Bauza said ahead of their must-win clash on Tuesday.
Messi used expletives to Argentinian media to highlight his anger after the Albiceleste lost 3-0 to Brazil last week. That left them in sixth place in the South American World Cup group — and only four go through automatically.
So far, they are only one point behind fifth place Chile, but anything but a win over Colombia could see a critical gap open up.
Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano said after the Brazil defeat that Argentina had hit “rock bottom”.
With the pressure on him and the team, Bauza said it was good for Mascherano to show his anger, and he was still confident of reaching the 2018 finals in Russia.
“We need the team to improve in terms of production and this means they will have to impose themselves,” Bauza said after the final training session Sunday.
“Colombia have big players, individuals with quality, and we have worked on countering that. We need to win and we need to take risks.”
Bauza said the Argentinian team was still smarting from the Brazil defeat. And the two-time World Cup winners must rebound. “There has to be a good match and we must win, no excuses. There is a strong desire in the squad.”
