Lionel Scaloni hailed his Argentina side’s “beautiful” penalty shootout victory over the Netherlands but admitted his side had been dragged into an “ugly game” by a Dutch team that surprised him with their aggressiveness.
The coach’s comments came after an enthralling but extraordinarily bad-tempered game which featured one red card and 16 yellows – two of which came during a penalty shootout in which the Dutch player Denzel Dumfries was sent off for taunting opponents. After Argentina had triumphed 4-3 on penalties, following a 2-2 draw, their players then goaded the Dutch while Lionel Messi also exchanged words with Louis van Gaal and his assistant Edgar Davids.
