"Lewandowski's gonna have a field day" - Argentina fans brand Lionel Scaloni as an 'idiot' as key player is benched for Poland clash

The pressure is on La Albiceleste to secure qualification to the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup when they take on Poland on 30 November.

Scaloni's side will also advance if they draw with Poland, and Saudi Arabia's game again Mexico ends as a draw or El Tri win by two goals or fewer.

Argentina's shock 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in their opener has left Group C all to play for.

Martinez, 24, was brought into Argentina's starting lineup on the back of the defeat to Saudi Arabia when the side took on Mexico.

La Albiceleste beat El Tri 2-0, with Martinez impressing at the back for Scaloni's side.

The Manchester United defender made four clearances, one interception and one tackle.

He headed into the FIFA World Cup tournament off the back of a superb start to life at Old Trafford with United.

Martinez made 21 appearances across competitions, helping the Red Devils keep nine clean sheets.

However, Scaloni has dropped the former Ajax centre-back to the bench for the clash with Poland.

Meanwhile, Emiliano Martinez will start in goal, with Nahuel Molina at right-back and Marcos Acuna at left-back.

Rodrigo De Paul and Alexis Mac Allister will be joined in midfield by Enzo Fernandez.

Benfica midfielder Fernandez scored a fantastic strike in the 2-0 victory over Mexico.

Lionel Messi will captain the side in attack alongside Julian Alvarez and Angel Di Maria.

A place in the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup beckons for Argentina, but fans are not happy with Scaloni.

One believes that Poland frontman Robert Lewandowski will now wreak havoc on the Argentine defense due to Martinez's absence.

Lionel Messi insists that another FIFA World Cup started for Argentina after beating Mexico

Argentina were at risk of heading home early from the World Cup in Qatar after their shock defeat to Saudi Arabia.

They then came up against a Mexico side who had drawn 0-0 with Poland in their opener.

Despite a nervy first half for Scaloni's side, they claimed a phenomenal victory through Messi and Fernandez's second-half strikes.

The Paris Saint-Germain attacker reacted to the victory, claiming another World Cup had started for the South Americans.

About the author

Matthew is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who has been covering news, rumors and match reports for close to 3 years. Learning creative writing from University of Essex, he combined his skills and passion for football take up writing for the sport professionally.

Matthew always strives to go beyond a story and offer unique and lesser-known insights, while maintaining an unbiased tone in his articles. His reporting exploits at the company have helped him gain a humungous readership of 25 million, with one of his articles raking in a whopping 724,000 reads.

A Manchester United fan since childhood, Matthew admired Sir Alex Ferguson for his loyalty and brave coaching style. His favorite footballer is Thierry Henry, believing the Frenchman to be uniquely talented and charismatic. An ardent Three Lions fan, England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in 2018 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment of all time, and he believes that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe will have a Ballon d’Or duopoly after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also follows his local EFL League Two clubs AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United, and spends his free time watching and writing about professional wrestling. He also likes to work out, watch movies and go for night outs.

Know More