Scaloni defends Argentina behaviour following Netherlands clash

was up with two goals against the

on Friday but Wout Weghorst scored two late goals to equalize the game. Carrying on to the penalty shootouts, Emiliano Martinez's saved two penalties and eventually Argentina won 4-3 on penalties. Argentina faces Croatia in the

 semi-final on Tuesday.

Some of Argentina's players celebrated the victory in front of the Netherlands players and even Lionel Messi confronted Louis van Gaal on the touchline. Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz showed a World Cup record of 18 yellow cards in the game.

Ahead of the game against Croatia, Scaloni said Argentina are gracious winners and defended his players.

"We have to remove this taboo that we do not know how to lose and we do not know how to win,"

Scaloni said.

"We lost our first game with Saudi Arabia and went quietly to the hotel to continue preparing for what was coming.

"We won the Copa America in Brazil (last year) and I think you saw the most beautiful image of sportsmanship you could see, with Neymar, (Lionel) Messi, (Leandro) Paredes and other players sitting on the steps of the Maracana."

Scaloni does not believe his team behaved poorly and insisted that they respect their opponents.

"This issue must be settled,"

he said.

"We deeply respect the Netherlands, as we do now for [semi-final opponents] Croatia and all our rivals.

"We must banish the idea that we do not know how to win or lose. That is totally out of touch with reality."

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