Noa Lang has slammed Argentina for their behaviour in the quarter-final clash against Netherlands - and declared that's the reason why La Albiceleste "won't win the World Cup ".
FIFA is investigating Argentina for how they acted during their last-eight win over the Dutch at Lusail Stadium after Lionel Scaloni's side were handed 10 yellow cards on the night. Manager Scaloni and first-team coach Walter Samuel were cautioned, while eight players received bookings in a fiery affair between the two sides.
In actual fact, there were 18 yellow cards handed out in total - a record for a World Cup finals game since the tournament's inception in 1930 - beating the previous high, which was 16. Argentina have been heavily criticised for how they acted during the game, with Gary Neville branding some of the behaviour "disgraceful" and claiming the South Americans "went over the top" with their actions.
In a fresh blast, Club Brugge and Netherlands winger Lang has followed a similar hymn sheet to Neville. La Albiceleste appeared to goad the Dutch squad after winning the penalty shootout, while Lionel Messi furiously railed against Wout Weghorst after the game.
"They were playing hard, really hard," Lang told Het Laatste Nieuws, via A Bola, of Argentina. "They had just won, so go ahead, celebrate with each other. But don't behave like that. That's why Argentina won't win the World Cup."
Lang is set to face Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Otamendi when his Brugge side face Benfica in the Champions League last 16 in the new year and he is already thinking about claiming his revenge in that clash. "I will see some of them soon, when I play against Benfica for my club," he said of the Argentines.
Despite the backlash they have faced, Scaloni defended his players ahead of their semi-final meeting with Croatia on Tuesday. "I just want to finish off with this topic." Scaloni said of the controversy on the eve of the last-four clash.
"The previous game was played the way we had to play it. But from both teams - the Netherlands and Argentina. And that's football. In football, sometimes you have to defend and attack. And sometimes things can happen like the previous game.
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"There can be arguments, more challenging times. But that's all. That's why there is a referee, to make justice. We need to just put an end to this idea of thinking Argentina is just that, and that we usually have that sort of behaviour.
“We needed to show our pride and we just played the game the way we had to play it. And then there is a referee in charge of making decisions. Then things end the moment the referee blows the final whistle.
"We need to put an end to this idea of not being good winners or losers. That's very far from who we actually are as a team or as a squad and in the way we represent the nation."
