Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli accepts the blame for his side’s 6-1 defeat at Spain, but believes the match was well balanced.
A hat-trick from Isco helped La Roja storm to victory over an out-of-sorts Argentina, who enjoyed plenty of the ball but were outclassed by their opponents.
“We played a great first half. I think we played well against Spain for 60 minutes but that is not enough against Spain,” the former Sevilla boss told reporters after the match, as cited by Diario AS.
“With the ball, Argentina looked to play against Spain. Our objective was to defend using the ball. Spain had some good moments but that alone was not enough for them to deserve a 2-0 advantage.
“In the second half, they caught us on the attack – both teams equally dominated the ball and territory, but Spain were much more effective with it.
“I must take responsibility for the result as I was the man who prepared this team and they left everything out on the pitch.
“We tried to score goals throughout the match but we did not take advantage of our opportunity and they were very effective.
“We have to keep working and ensure these mistakes do not happen at the World Cup, we must use this to learn.
“Meza, Lo Celso and Tagliafico all debuted on this trip and were encouraging, while Messi was in the locker room to support his colleagues but his absence was important.”
