Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli admitted his side were "emotionally broken" after conceding the first goal in their 3-0 defeat by Croatia Thursday, which left their World Cup hope hanging by a thread.
The two-time world champion need to beat Nigeria in their final Group D match Tuesday and for other results to go their way to have any chance of reaching the last 16, after Willy Caballero's dreadful error allowed Ante Rebic to send Croatia on their way to victory and into the knockout stage.
"I am the one who needs to make the final decisions on these things. The key to our defeat lies with my responsibility," said Sampaoli.
"I had to devise a plan for this match. If I had set things up differently, things might have turned out much better. I don't think it's realistic to put the burden on Caballero.
Brilliant from Modric but in all the years of watching Argentina I can’t remember them ever having such a poor side.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 21, 2018
"I thought that we were going to put a lot of pressure on Croatia in their part of the pitch. But after they scored we were emotionally broken and we didn't have any footballing arguments to change the course of events."
Sampaoli only took over last year, becoming Argentina's fourth coach in as many years.
They only just qualified for the tournament in Russia, as a Lionel Messi hat-trick sealed victory in their final match of South American qualifying in Ecuador.
The Barcelona great has been a peripheral figure so far in Russia though, while his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo has scored four goals in two games for Portugal.
"Don't cry for me, #Argentina,
— Sarah Kagingo (@SarahKagingo) June 21, 2018
The truth is, I never left you
All through my wild days, my mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance" #Messi ???#ARG #Cro #WorldCup #ArgentinaCroacia pic.twitter.com/BAuL8lNEkF
But former Chile boss Sampaoli says that Messi's struggles are more down to the quality of his team-mates.
"I think Cristiano is a great player, you can look at all he has achieved for his club and his country," said the 58-year-old.
"Right now we shouldn't compare these two players. The reality of the Argentina squad clouds Leo's brilliance. He is limited because the team doesn't gel with him as it should. We as coaches need to realise these things and try to deal with them and I'm the one that needs to accept it."
Argentina, who are looking to lift the trophy for the first time since the Diego Maradona-inspired glory of 1986, haven't been knocked out in the group stage since finishing behind England and Sweden in 2002.
1 - This was Argentina’s heaviest defeat in the first round group stages of a World Cup tournament since losing 1-6 to Czechoslovakia in 1958. Crushed. #ARG #CRO #ARGCRO
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 21, 2018
But even victory over Nigeria may not be enough, especially after two late strikes from Croatia midfielders Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic left them with a poor goal difference of minus three.
"When you don't have momentum it's very difficult to move forward. Some of the players didn't manage to play with my system," accepted Sampaoli.
"I'm very hurt by this defeat, but I probably didn't set up my team in the right way.
"We need to take advantage of this last (group) match, we need to fight for it and hope to get into the next stage."
