Inter and Argentina striker Lautaro Martinez confirms he’s had pain-killing injections during the World Cup and tells his compatriots to ‘respect’ Croatia.
El Toro came off the bench in the second half of a World Cup quarter-finals clash between Argentina and the Netherlands on Friday and converted a spot-kick in the penalty shootout that send his national team to the semi-finals.
Lautaro didn’t start in the last three games in Qatar and has been criticised by Argentinean media.
“I am sorry for that especially because I’ve been having pain-killing injections in my ankle. Scaloni and my teammates have always backed me,” he told Sportitalia.
“I spoke to Inzaghi and Inter’s directors and I am grateful for the support they always show me. Surely, it won’t be easy against Croatia, they have many quality and experienced players. They played the last Final and we must respect them, recover energy and think about our job.
“Brazil’s elimination is a big blow for South American football, but we must think about ourselves, we are so happy to have qualified.”
Argentina will face Croatia in the World Cup semi-finals on Tuesday with Lautaro meeting his Inter teammate Marcelo Brozovic.
Lautaro has scored eight goals in 21 appearances across all competitions with Inter this term. He made his senior Argentina debut in March 2018 and has gone on to score 21 goals in 45 matches with his national team. He hasn’t yet scored in this edition of the World Cup.