Sabella Praises Argentina’s Fighting Spirit

Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella has hailed his side’s “professionalism” after their penalty shootout semi-final win over Holland in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.

Goalkeeper Sergio Romero saved two of the Netherlands’ penalties to help Sabella’s men keep the dream of a third World Cup title alive and a first final appearance since losing the 1990 edition to West Germany.

“We made it to the final and this is a historic moment,” said Sabella. “It was a tough and even match, probably deserving to be a draw, but I thought we had better chances over the 120 minutes.

Germany Has an Edge Over Argentina Says Sabella. Image: Fifa via Getty Image.
Germany Has an Edge Over Argentina Says Sabella. Image: Fifa via Getty Image.

“We won the penalties, if they’d won the penalties, I’d say the same. I’m delighted with the professionalism of the players, they’ve given us a great platform for the Final.”

Up next for ‘La Albicseleste’ is a final match against Germany, who whitewashed hosts Brazil 7-1 on Tuesday.

The 59-year-old ex-Estudiantes boss believes the fact that Germany have had an extra day’s rest after effectively wrapping up their win over Brazil inside half an hour could be crucial at the Maracana come Sunday night.

“Some of our players are sore, beaten, tired – the results of a war, so to speak,” said Sabella. “We have a final to play, with one day less to prepare and against a team like Germany, but with work, humility and seriousness, we’ll do all we can to make it all the way to the top.

Sabella was also full of praise for Germany squad, saying they often produced players with a “South American touch.”

“Germany throughout their entire history have always shown physical might, tactical, mental prowess, and have always had players with a certain South American touch,” he said.

“The match is extremely difficult and I repeat the fact they haven’t played extra time and we’ve played two, and played one day after Germany. Germany is always a very difficult hurdle to overcome.

“We’ll see if it’s a minor issue, the fact we played after and the Germany game was decided in the first 45 minutes, so they could ease off in the second half, whereas we had to spend all the effort, and every last drop of sweat to reach the World Cup final.”