Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni spoke at the post-game press conference following the team’s 1-1 draw vs. Chile. With this result in Argentina’s Copa America opener, the national team reaches its 3rd consecutive draw within 11 days.
Speaking to the media, Lionel Scaloni complimented his players, minimized the draw, and criticized the condition of the field. Here is what he had to say:
“There were two specific plays in which the team was not well. They (Chile) got the penalty and nothing else. From that moment it was uphill for us.
“We deserved to win but, in the end, we came away with a draw. Anyway, this is just the start of a very tough tournament.
“I would be worried if the team did not create goal scoring opportunities. The important thing is that we do it, we put many players in the area. The ball is going to end up going in, we are calm.
Regarding the poor state of the field:
“Having played better on this field says a lot. We found a field where after ten minutes it was no longer possible to play football.”
Lionel Scaloni concluded the press conference saying he is very satisfied with the squad he selected for the Copa America:
“We have a great squad. All the footballers who are here can play, that’s why they came.”
Goalkeeper is I without doubt our weakest position, but that doesn’t mean we lack good players there. Why do players like Marchesin and Armani keep getting the call up? These guys aren’t even starters. We need to call up a Benitez or some other goalkeeper as well. Musso did decent last game, he saved the penalty but Chile’s non stop attitude got them the goal from a deflection.
Not only that but we keep relying on Di Maria and Messi. Lautaro has to step up, SO MANY easy shots missed last game.
Not only that but we leave out or best young starter Dybala. What’s up with AFA and their hate for Dybala? All that “no chemistry with Messi” is BS. He is a fantastic player and he creates opportunities and is a strong attacking presence in the upper midfield. We NEED him for World Cup!
4 teams are going through to the next round out of 5…so pretty sure Argentina will be going through.
But saying that, Lautaro Martinez has to find his scoring shoes and replicate last year’s copa form..this match against chile should have been over by halftime had Lautaro taken his chances.
Di Maria coming in late is a good strategy as he seems to get tired with the game progresses. His speed towards the end can make a difference. Otamendi, Montiel still lacks understanding which led to penalty for Chile. These are really small errors which does not require any mastermind to correct… hoefully, Scaloni does that
I agree with Lautaro Martinez. I hope he finds his form/confidence again, along with Nico. It seems that when our players get hurt, they take longer to find their form again. I would prefer Erik Lamela running late at the end and creating chances than DiMaria. Otamendi needs to retire and Romero and Senesi (or Mammana) need to replace him, but I understand they are giving him his last rodeo in this Copa.
I haven’t commented because I’m really disappointed with the Argentina federation. In the last 5-7 matches against Chile, how many have we won?? We don’t realize how inferior we have become (it doesn’t matter if other teams become more talented than in the past). Do we struggle against the likes of Bolivia & Chile?? I want every Argentine fan to think about this. Chile in major matches have outclassed us and won more than we won against them. We are now equal to Chile (we tie them almost every match).
We no longer control the midfield or possession. Too much relying on Messi. Look at Portugal. They are stacked. If they win this world cup “the lie of the century” will be that CR7 won with a weak squad, while Messi lost with a talented team (not good for Messi’s legacy). But this is not the case, Portugal now has a far superior midfield & overall team (with strategy, tactics, technical skills, etc) than Argentina had in 2010 (all forwards & slow Veron), 2014 (no creative midfield-only DM-needed Pastore like player), and now (the back pass and sideways passing team). PRAY FOR ARGENTINA. I hope we turn this around. Better yet, I’d rather fail in the group stages of Copa and make the necessary changes so that another Worldcup is NOT wasted (I’m more concerned with long-term & WC than this gloried disorganized domestic mess).
2 biggest problems still exist for Argentina.
1) We can create scoring chances, but cant ever score. + we dont have a midfield that can controll the game, the worst part is we believe we do but in reality we dont and as soon as any team pressures us we turn it over.
2) Our Defense is always horrible.
Offense examples, Gonzales had what 3 of the easiest possible scoring chances you can have?? (lautaro had 2). IM hoping its just cuz he hasnt played much lately and is rusty(Gonzalez), IM hoping he doesnt have Higuain DNA.
on Defense: its always the samething anytime any team has a free kick or corner ur basically shitting bricks waiting for someone to not cover someone for an easy goal.
Ever since We lost zanetti we seem to always put the worst possible player at that defensive position. MONTIEL?? WHY? what does he do? hes slow, he doesnt have any presense, he doesnt create anything not even in the simplest form. We have better players at that spot i dont understand. I cant wait for otamendi to leave. He causes about atleast 1 penalty per game( didnt this game but as soon as he touches the ball im worried hes gonna have a brain fart and pass it to the other team.
with that being said, if we just put half our scoring chances in the next we win most games 3-1.
Im also tired of hearing coaches tallkin about the pitch, and makin excuses for it. Im also tired of hearing coaches being excited cuz we created scoring chances…. compplainin about the pitch, and being happy about scoring chances doesnt win games. Get angry, get upset, and fix it.
It’s just poor finishing it’s simpler to fix than bad tactics… it will improve.
Nicolas in one one one with GK…and free header…! None of the striker should have missed those…but it happens…. rarely in same game…!
I like this guy…his quicknes…hard working…positional awareness… willingness to defend…everything is great except finishing…I am sure he can do better than this in finishing..Hope he will bounce back.
I agree with you 100% bro.. Hope Romero gets fully fit and we can win this tournament.. Finishing was some thing to worry about than the lineup.. We will do well in this tournament.. Vamos Argentina
I totally agree with you insider. Nico reminds me, i won’t mention Caniggia who was phenomenal and one of my greatest ever players, a Claudio Lopez type of player, who can run havoc to the opposition with his speed and dribbling. I am not saying that he is at Lopez’s level but i hope one day he will, actually even better i hope he surpass him. Of course Lopez was a great finisher but i believe that Gonzalez can be a great finisher too. What i am trying to say is that these type of players are very important and we were missing such player since Lopez’s era.
Allow me to say something else: I am seeing people here exaggerating saying that Argentina is a mediocre team at best. I will not attack them or criticise them by any means, simply because i respect their frustration, i know how it’s like. But i would rather tell them one thing: i don’t know if they are young enough to experience their first dissapointments, i am old enough to experience too many let downs, like most in here, but all these years, even the worst Argentina squad could not possibly considered to be mediocre at best. Personally, every Argentina team, even this one, seems exciting to me and considered as powerhouse. Disapointment only drags you deeper, so lets fight and hope for the best.
Weird thing is he is great finisher too but he had off night I guess and came from injury
Were well said once again and i do have many samekind memories with Argentina likeu mentioned so i totally share your thought’s !
Waweride’s wise words:
Allow me to say something else: I am seeing people here exaggerating saying that Argentina is a mediocre team at best. I will not attack them or criticise them by any means, simply because i respect their frustration, i know how it’s like. But i would rather tell them one thing: i don’t know if they are young enough to experience their first dissapointments, i am old enough to experience too many let downs, like most in here, but all these years, even the worst Argentina squad could not possibly considered to be mediocre at best. Personally, every Argentina team, even this one, seems exciting to me and considered as powerhouse. Disapointment only drags you deeper, so lets fight and hope for the best.
I believe most of the Argentine players suffer from the illusion of being one of the best players/team in the world and it clearly shows. They should understand that they are mediocre at best.
trueeee. sometimes it looks like we (argentina) think we have requilme and veron in the mid field controlling everything, but thats not the case and as soon as the other team applies pressure we turn the ball over, and our defense always sucks and we put in the wrong players in defense. with that being said, they played well enough to win, we missed 3 easy goals. Im hoping that kid that missed 2 was it gonzales?? im hoping its just cuz hes rusty and im hoping hes not a higuain type that always chokes when it matters.
Some of the other idiots said…pitch is in good condition.
They can’t see… players slipping.. especially at starting? It was slipping even when taking free kicks…Messi slipped infront of penalty box.
They can’t see…ball bounce differently? How many times it happened.
They cant see…broken pitch..here and there….?
I don’t know…how a football giant like Brazil have pitches like that. We are lucky none of our players got injured.
i wouldnt be suprised if brazil fucked up the field on purpose so argentina could struggle haha
My two cents:
– The pitch was bad, really VARsil, is that the best you can do?
– Nico Gonzalez offered much in attack but his finishing was atrocious yesterday. That Messi pass was sublime but he should have done much better with his header.
– Lo Celso is a must. When he’s fit he is such an asset.
– Emi Martiinez is a solid, solid keeper.
– Tagliafico played well, particularly with his tackles, the penalty was way too harsh in my opinion
– Lautaro is no Bati or Crespo, but that’s the best we can do for now, I don’t think Kun is fully match fit.
– Di Maria as a sub can be impactful, but only as a sub in the last 15-20 minutes.
– Molina seems to be an interesting solution as an attacking right-back but we don’t fully know how well he can do defensively. In Udinese he plays higher up the pitch.
– Overall, our finishing let us down big time. We should score those chances. We can’t expect Messi to score 2-3 goals every game.
Dimaria should play in 4231…as right winger. This is his place in NT.
Kun can’t play all the matches…If he starts to play next matches…most probably he can’t play in some KO match due to injury…that’s his history!
Better coach will keep him fit in the team…and use when it’s most necessary. These group matches are not that important as only one will be eliminated out of 5.
yeah im hoping gonzalez missing 2 goals was just a fad becaus ehe hasnt played much in the last month. IM hoping hes not another higuain who chokes in big moments.
I hate all those idiots say.. Lautaro is Higuain 2.0. Some even said… Higuain is better striker and still long way for Lautaro.
Higuain and Lautaro attitude is like dark and light. They different in almost every aspect. Lautaro is a tiger mode. So don’t expect him to be like that. You need to watch again his under 20 matches. He’s a warrior.
If he can’t score in some games…you all want him to be labelled as Higuain 2.0. What’s your point? You want to kill his already low confidence? He’s out of form that we already know. Every NT including Spain, Germany will love to have a striker of his kind.
Be calm….he will make you all proud…I have no doubt. I never doubted him.
Totally agree, Higuain and his bad luck costed us 2,3 important goals.. which could have been vital and we might have a World Cup & 2 Copas. Many would have called Argentina as the most successful international team of the last decade.
But said that, I Totally agree with u, Lautaro has miles to travel to reach the achievements of Pipita, as an individual player as well as an Argentina no 9.
for lautaro to be the next higauin. he needs to choke for the next 8 years. ONLY then can we compare him to higuain. lmao
I’m not the biggest Scaloni fan, but this game is not on him. Nico G has one-on-one with the keeper in the middle of the goal and he somehow does not score. Lautaro has two chances to put easy goals in. Nico G then has a free header right in front of goal and does not score.
The game could have easily been 4-1.
Also, Vargas was moving before PK was taken, so it should have been ruled off.
Problem is second half intensity is gone after first half why? All other thing are good
I have a question.
Why can’t a country like Brazil which is best nation in football can’t maintain the pitches of it’s stadiums.
It’s a disgrace.The same issue was there in 2019.
Just see the pitches of Euro cup, They are world class.
Smooth like butter even after 90 mins.
Can someone tell the reason, Is it because of high temperatures or financial issues or what.
I don’t remember them being that bad in 2014.
i dont know but when argentina plays in argentina the fields are even worst somehow. i dunno how 2 of the biggest powerhouses in soccer have the shittiest fields. must be financial issues or someshit.
Yes both Brazil and Argentina are poor countries plus their football association has money issue which worsened in this covid times
yes but even then Argentina’s main pitches are WAY better
At this stage i dont think replacing one player with another player would do any wonders for us. Who is left? who havent got a chance to prove themself in the selected 28.I m talking mainly about the attack and midfield players.
Papu Gomez? perhaps Joaquin Correa? Would these players even if starts make any difference? I think Without changing the way we play no matter who ever is chossen to start it wont make a difference. Even Messi is looking Plain ordinary for us in the last 3 matches.
Was this because of the rustiness of not playing together for some months? Can we turn it around and start showing better team chemistry?
Attack midfield is ok main problem is the defense
Defence has always been a problem for us for long time. Nothing new in that. Our only hope is Emiliano and Romero can somehow inspire the other backline players.
Irony is now we are not even able to score goals from our open play. I mean our defence is bad, we cant hold to draws withour shaky defence, we are not able to score goals too. What the hell is left now with?
We can sort our defense quickly thats not tough. Its much tougher to form an attacking formation and to build attacking chemistry that needs time and our players not getting chance in big clubs is a big problem. Just drop montiel quarta pezella and otamendi and play acuna/tagli foyth/molina lisandro Romero senesi medina and our defense will be sorted. And with a proper defense we can atleast compete with big European countries. 2014 Argentina side was not better than this one our midfield was worst than this Argentina midfield bt they reached final just because of defense and Mascherano. Though messi dimaria was younger that helped other than that attack was more or less same. If we can improve defense and those mistakes we can win wc. Im not concerned about copa we r not gonna win it specially with otamendi montiel starting no foyth and conmebal going to bribe referees to make sure Brazil wins it. So this should be use to build chemistry and giving some chance to young talented players like lisandro Martinez romero and even molina to feel the pressure of a big tournament that will help us in wc where the pressure will be huge
defense has been the problem for about 16 years
The penalty awarded to Chile was very harsh.. it was a 50-50 chance, Vidal came in more reckless than Tagliafico. It should not have been a penalty
The chances i saw Martinez and Gonzalez got, Crespo and Batistuta would have scored with their eyes closed. I am sure Icardi and Augero would have done better
Found a nice way to lighten the mood & forget the frustration of today’s match result . Just see spain- sweden highlights. The misses there are crazier 😂. Jordi alba must be in same state of mind as messi tonite😜
good to see we aren’t the only ones
The best thing you can do is to step down as a head coach and stay as a assistant manager under some qualified coach.
This debacle is a 100% the AFA’s FAULT because of their greedy ways and corruption……..how is it that a country like ARGENTINA can’t afford or at least have us believe that they don’t have the funds to hire a proper coach!!
As corrupt as Grondona was, he would have never let things go like they did.
Well he he was the reason AFA in that situation. Things are getting better and it would help if we win Copa very much. Like it helped us reaching WC14 final
Di Maria, Papu, Joaquin Correa, Dybala, Ocampus… and somehow we play Nicolás Dominguez as a starter, no offense to him, great player and a good prospect. But let’s respect some obvious hierarchy. I doubt any of these named would miss as many chances.
This team has been unbeaten for a while, I give some credit for that, but keep in mind we can’t control games, team is not well structured enough to be consistent and choosing the right players would help. Montiel is SO DAMN average (and stop saying that River is a top team because River would be an average Europa League team in europe) guy has an horrific sense of tactical positioning and he doesn’t give any solutions upfront, Otamendi had his time and has been inconsistent for years(time to move on), we lack a ball recovering midfielder to do the dirty work and cover some spaces and we’re obviously missing a leader to organize the team in the middle/defense like Mascherano, not a single world class player in those positions, everyone playing in teams that don’t compete in the highest level in world football (look at Brazil: Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Militão) you don’t have to be in your best form to be useful and help the team, we lack quality simple as that. And not playing with the best players has been painful in many occasions.
That’s show how uneducated are you.. Nico has changed the speed and his ability to dribble and directness has provided the key in that left side.. Are you even watching the match or what?? Sorry bro.. And I another thing he is nico Gonzalez.. Not Dominguez.. That confirmed that you are just newspaper reader.. Please watch the matches.. Yes his finishing was awful but this is his first big tournament.. Nico and locelso were excellent.. They were creating havoc in first half.. Just his finishing which I sure will improve as the tournament progress.. Please please watch the match.. Please
His quality is not a question my guy… that’s how uneducated you are, guy has literally been injured, played 1k minutes all season, has no experience and besides that, he’s doing well but still it doesn’t make any sense. Do you understand the gap between his level and the others I just named? Argentina doesn’t have enough structure to not play they’re best players, specially in the attack. Do you even watch international football my guy?
Your comment literally says it all, you watch argentina games, a guy plays well enough and should obviously be first choice. Proper watchers of the game, even Angel Correa should start over him (LA LIGA CHAMPION BTW) do some research before you call me uneducated.
Well ocampos was given lot of chances.. He tries so many unsuccessful dribbles and looked clueless.. Last season he was fantastic for sevilla but this season looked nowhere near his best.. Dybala is struggling for his place in awful juventus which nearly did not finish fourth in seria a.. Lucky that in last game Napoli didn’t win otherwise juve was playing europa next season.. Papu is never a left winger.. He is a free flowing attacking mid.. Diamaria always struggled in left side.. Thats why when he was substituted played in right side..angel Correa also is free flowing mid.. Joaquin is the only one who is left sided but he does not have that pace and dribbling ability. May be he is better finisher.. so please give me proper left sided option.. Don’t just give me names.. He has provided pace and directness.. And which league you want to debate.. I am ready for it
Acuña should give you depth on the left, and Correa (example) cutting inside for the overlap. Ask your left mid to close down some space and you have someone making the game wider. This is just an option, a valid one if you watched Acuña play this season. I’m not saying they all should play, I’m saying you should adapt the way you play so you can use your best players to fucking get the best out of the squad. I mean same thing can apply to the right flank with Montiel giving absolutely nothing in the attack, even Molina (btw plays in Europe (LEVELS)) showed better attacking moves.
Quality of the player is not the problem, but there are LEVELS in this, it’s not just about changing Nico for ADM or someone else, i’m assuming you introduce a player but you adapt the way you play to achieve some balance. Argentina is so predictable, it’s not about just having a good game and missed chances, everything comes down to individual quality in this team… specially from Messi and the most technical gifted players in the midfield. If you rely on individual moments… you better play your best players. A proper team should be structured enough to maintain results against this teams we’ve been played that are way worse than they look like, Argentina competes based on the technical quality of players.
I agree with montiel.. He is just a average player.. But molina nobody knows as well.. Once he plays full ninety minutes then we can give him something.. Otherwise rb is a big problem for Argentina.. About acuna he can play in lb.. But again too much chop and changing will damage the rhythm.. About nico I think he is the best option ther e, he will prove you wrong bro in this tournament.. Hopefully we have a great tournament.. Vamos Argentina
Di maria is too old IMO to play full games. I love dybala but for some reason he cant play up to his level when he plays for argentina. I dont like Acuna all he does is run with the ball and turn it over. reminds me of a slower not as skilled dani alves. Ur right about MOntiel. i dont understand why we always put trash on that spot. ZABALETA, Other trash i cant remember now monitlel. He literally doesnt do anything. I like FOyt more, they just never seem to give him a chance. Hes got the speed to hang with anyone, and he makes plays.
Be that as it may, not defending Scaloni but he didn’t miss the chances that were missed last night, Messi gave them the lead and confidence and all they had to do is finish their chances but they didn’t.
I still believe that was NOT a penalty, Vidal is Notorious for that bullshit move where he would just throw himself into the mix and hope for something, did it last night and will do it again, just watch.
I hope Kun plays if he is fit along side one of the jokers from last night but not both at the same time, Uruguay needs to fear the attack.
Scaloni looks total in confusion. Apart from exclusion of foyth, dybala, buendia, icardi squad is good but starting eleven is completely wrong. U can’t ignore lisandro Martinez and cant start 2 bum quarta and montiel in a game. Just start the lisandro Martinez Romero partnership you don’t have to worry about lisandro’s height he is the best cb we have right now yes according to me he is even better than Romero and when we don’t have foyth so u have to start molina no matter what. Montiel and quarta was the main reason our defense was looking shaky and the attack was also breaking and could not perform smoothly because of them so many misplaced passes and horrible crosses its unbelievable. And plz start acuna he deserves it tagliafico still same no improvement bt obviously far better than those 2 bums
Now Scaloni is blaming the pitch, whereas he should blame his team why they can not play with same intensity for full 90 minutes what happens to them in 2nd half,is stamina the problem? why no one came fast for follow on goal, why Lautaro Martinez is being selected when his finishing and link up play is poor, why Buendai was not selected, why Foyth was not selected Foyth could have been used as substitute he pocketed Rashford who runs with 36km/hr speed.There are so many question and answer is pitch was not good, here he removed the opportunity to think outside of the box and infuse some some energy in the team so they can play full 90 minutes with same intensity as 1st half
You need lesson for Yellow and Red card
Thts really sad things….
Just wondering with Scaloni’s comment; can’t digest on what he means by “Great Squad”; he still have the firm believe that the team is working and everything runs well, yes on contrary. A bad and sad days for the fans. Need to change and think out of box, coach. The time is running and the team is not promising at all. Bringing the big name such as Kun, Di Maria, Papu Gomez and make them all only to sit on the bench is a great question mark.
It’s better to bring Gaich, Simeone and some of the younger generations at least they still will have and get an experience on the training ground with Messi under Samuel and Aimar.
Only due to the amazing and outstanding Messi’s free kick save Arg from the defeat; otherwise Chile will easily beat us 2-0 at second half. Don’t expect much and be passionate that Messi will win Copa and WC with this managerial style. It will be a miracle and luckiest day of our life if it happen
Ironically Arg got the best player but at the same time did have their worst manager. Let it be the name of Bauza, Sampaoli, Tata Martino; Maradona, Batista and ….
i dont think chile woulda easily beat us 2-o if not for that messi free kick. WE also missed about 4 easy goals out there. so at best 4-2. the 2 biggest problems with argentina for the past 12 years is FINISHING GOALS, and DEFENSE. and thats till a problem till this day.
It was a good game, with so many chances, it’s great that since losing to Brazil in 2019, this team has not lost but it is worrisome when you create so many chances and miss out. It has become a trend, we deserved to win but didn’t, it is detrimental to the morale. Time to grow some balls and make some bold decisions, drop Paredes and add Guido, add a playmaker like Papu and drop Gonzales along with Lautaro. They are playing hard but missing out on key chances, maybe they are not at their best for the time being, Nico has done nothing since scoring those two goals, he has had enough chances, same goes for Lautaro. Why not add Aguero and then get Martinez in the second half, same goes for the left flank, Correa needs a chance. Lukaku had two tocuhes in the second half of Belgium Russia and scored. Ultimately being a workhorse and tried so hard amounts to nothing but statistics. We need soemone to score thats all. Parades is a defesinve liability and needs to rest while we try Guido, it may help Lo Celco and De Paul to move forward. Let’s hope we see some key changes against Urugvey and get a win. Scoreline doesnt matter, but getting a draw from winning positions is concerning although one can argue that Portugal drew three games in the group stage and then went on to win it all the way but this is Copa. I hope we can qualify for the KOs easily.
Honestly, I agree with Scaloni. He has learned in every match and even with his substitutions they were more aggressive this time instead of inviting pressure, like against Colombia. I loved the first half of the game for us. We looked great, created chances, and definitely worried the Chilean defense. We just seemed to get rattled as soon as the penalty was called. I think the goals will come.
Also, not saying the field is to blame at all because at the end of the day it is the players that play. However, this field was demolished by the end of this match haha. It looks like it is going to be a repeat of the last Copa haha.
VAMOS ARGENTINA!!
As usual ” WE DESERVED TO WIN BUT, IN THE END, WE CAME AWAY WITH A DRAW. ”
Dude, you need to score goals inorder to win matches !!!
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