TyC Sports: Argentina's manager Jorge Sampaoli is a figurehead

World
Europe

TyC Sports from Argentina reported on Saturday that Jorge Sampaoli, manager of the country's national men's football team, is already a figurehead with no power to make any decision over the team.

Argentina barely survived the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying round in South America and did not do well in the warm-up games before Russia, but their fans remained supportive and expected good performances from their players.

However, high expectations turned into bigger disappointments as Argentina received only one point in D after a 1-1 draw with Iceland and a 0-3 disastrous loss to Croatia. After the second game, news about players launching a "coup" against manager Sampaoli began to spread. Multiple media outlets reported that Sampaoli was already fired.

The 0-3 loss to Croatia pushed Argentina to the edge of the cliff. /VCG Photo

So far, Argentina's manager seemed to have kept his job but according to TyC Sports, the relations between the coaching team and players were a mess. After an indoor meeting attended by all players, coaches and the AFA (Argentinean Football Association) staff, Sampaoli was deprived of commanding rights over the team.

Thanks to Nigeria, who beat Iceland 2-0 on Friday, Argentina held some hope of making it into round 16 if they could defeat Nigeria on June 26 while Croatia takes down Iceland. However, according to Spain's Marca, Sampaoli has already decided to quit after the World Cup, no matter where Argentina ends.

The fate of Argentina will probably be decided by Croatia instead of themselves. /VCG Photo

Though he still has four years left in his contract with Argentina, Sampaoli started to ponder the idea of leaving before the 2018 FIFA World Cup because of the difficulties he and his team faced in the South America qualifying round, said Marca. After the first two games in Group D, he became the target of public criticism which created huge pressure that might have made him feel disheartened.

Possibly another piece of bad news for Argentina was that Croatia's manager Zlatko Dalic said at the press conference after beating Argentina that he might prepare for the knockout series by sending young and bench players in their last game against Iceland. If Iceland defeats Croatia on June 26, then Argentina will need more than a win to survive.