Quarter-final/Argentina v Scotland:Argentina will continue to thrive on adversity, Pumas coach Marcelo Loffreda said yesterday ahead of their big clash with Scotland at the Stade de France on Sunday.

"We love adversity, we love adversity," Loffreda said emphatically, and with a grin.

Many observers believe Argentina will beat the Scots and reach the World Cup semi-finals for the first time after their emphatic 30-15 win over Ireland last weekend. "Knowing the Argentine mentality, it is important for us not to think of ourselves as the better (team)," Loffreda said.

In a relaxed mood at the team's Paris hotel, the coach said the key to Argentina's success was focusing only on the immediate job in hand and never looking beyond their next match.

"Our main talent (as the coaching staff) is to put the players in a good frame of mind," said the former Pumas centre, who will join Leicester Tigers as head coach after the World Cup.

The Scots won their Pool C decider against Italy, 18-16, thanks to the accuracy of place-kicker Chris Paterson.

"Italy played a very sensible and planned game (against Scotland), but failed in discipline," Loffreda said. "We have worked very hard on our discipline. If you want discipline on the field you have to have discipline off it.

"We get the players to think only about the game, which is different from thinking about the expectations, the whole scenario."

Loffreda said he expected Scotland to start the match trying to impose a tactical plan, "then if they get no answers, they go for (running) the ball. The Scots are good runners, they have good skills, though they had more of a running game three years ago and now they have become more confrontational in the forward pack."

Loffreda added that if the game is played in the rain - like Scotland's victory over Italy - the Scots will be at an advantage "because they are more accustomed to a wet pitch and a wet ball".

Paterson's six out of six from penalties last weekend meant the Gloucester utility back kept up his 100 per cent kicking record this tournament - he has not missed in 15 attempts - and cemented his position as one of the world's leading goalkickers.

"To play with discipline will be very important and we have to reduce the penalties to a minimum," said Loffreda. "We conceded a lot of penalties against Ireland and we can't make too many mistakes against Scotland because Paterson is infallible.

"It's very wrong to think Scotland are just a kicker and 14 players behind him. Our match against Scotland will be even more difficult than the one we played against Ireland.

"Scotland have a great running game, they are very fast, and they have a strong pack of forwards. On top of that, they have a great kicker."

Dan Parks has admitted Scotland will need to put together their best performance of the World Cup if they are to beat the "never-say-die" quarter-final opponents. The outhalf is aware his side only played in fits and starts during the pool stages.

Scotland have not beaten Argentina since 1990 and two years ago they lost 23-19 in a nail-biter at Murrayfield.

"That was an interesting game," said Parks. "I think we were always in control, but in the end we lost and that's the type of team they are - they never say die. They were very tough to play against and we are all well and truly aware of that.

"Their game is about possession and territory. Once they get in that position on the field, they stay there until they get some sort of points."

At stake for Scotland on Sunday is a first appearance in the World Cup semi-finals since 1991, when they were beaten by England.

"We haven't really shown too much at this stage. I think there have been stages where we have played enterprising play, but at the weekend against Italy we didn't get much of a chance with the weather.

"As players, we would like to have played a bit more rugby. With the Portugal game, we showed glimpses of good play. Romania was similar, wet greasy conditions, but in the end we slugged it out and scored six tries.

"And then New Zealand. I can't remember having the ball too many times in a good attacking position, it was all defensive in that second half."