Argentina national team coaching staff and Franco Armani land in Qatar for 2022 World Cup

By
Roy Nemer
-
48

The Argentina national team coaching staff and Franco Armani have landed in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni, the coaching staff and Franco Armani are in Qatar as the team begins to arrive. Argentina play the United Arab Emirates on November 16 in Abu Dhabi.

Most players will begin to arrive next weekend but Franco Armani being the only player from the local league to be called up to the World Cup, flew with the coaching staff. AFA president Chiqui Tapia is also with the team.

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48 Comments

  1. So 25 players are almost confirm
    GK. Martinez Rulli Armani
    Def. Molina montiel romero pezzela otamendi licha taglafico acuna
    Mid. Depaul guido parades macallister enzo papu palacious
    Attack. Messi dimaria nico lautaro alvarez j.Corra dybala

  2. Such ignorance in expecting the staff to pick only fit players even if it means they never played well before for the NT OR if there are even any replacements to the current starting xl.

    Who would you take in place of Paredes, DePaul, Lo Celso, Di Maria, Romero, Foyth, Dynala? Explain!

    We are not France at the moment to have a 2nd starting xl that’s closer to their original xl. But we’ve something that makes us believe. Let the players sort themselves out and except for Armani, I don’t have a problem with anyone else getting picked among those 28 players listed. Utterly insane takes and god knows if some of these posters are 12yr olds that didn’t even kick a ball in their life and spewing stupidity on a routine basis.

    If you got nothing constructive, meaningful, thought worthy to say, I say just shut up and read the articles and not comment. Sometimes I feel like losing some brain cells reading these posts. I do enjoy reading quite a few posters perspectives here but sone are like GOD DAMN! Sorry for the rant!

    • I think you hit the nail on the head.
      It’s a huge challenge for Scaloni, Aimar and Samuel to pick replacements.
      Worst case scenario is that many of the regular starters will not be 100% match fit on time.
      Alternatives are either of a lower level, inexperienced or over the hill.
      Examples: Zaracho, Vera, Peyrera, Almada, Perrone, Soule, Garnacho, Enzo Perez etc.
      Hopefully, the regular players will recover in the little time that is left.

      • Sure….None listed are good enough. Soule and Garnacho are barely getting minutes and are NOT a threat. Let them grow and see where they’re at in 2yrs from now. Stupidity to takes these kids seriously as if they’re the next Messi/Aguero/Di Maria! Soule, granted I haven’t watched much of him at all but I think he’s a little too soft and doesn’t have enough of a personality to impose himself just yet. Not ready for that big leap just yet. And Garnacho on the other hand, the guy have done just too little so far and got a way bigger head than his current level. There’s potential in both players but none can hold a candle to the players that’re already selected.

        All we can do as a fanbase is hope everyone puts a good shift and make the dream come true. 36yrs – half a lifetime and then almost 29yrs to win a tournament? No way…This NT has routinely screwed it big time all these years and now this core group has the grit and the technical attributes to go all the way. Let’s win it all!

  3. Argentina WC winning odds were 2 months ago 10X (Brazil, France, England, Spain were all ahead of ARG) 1 month ago 8X and now its mainly between 6-7X, the second biggest favourite after Brazil everywhere. But im 100% sure Brazil wont win it.

    • Brazil has a damn mediocre midfield and an underwhelming fullbacks. I don’t think Brazil will win it. 1st top European team they will face they will be knocked out. If that’s Portugal in r16 or spain or Germany in quarters that needs to be seen

      • I hope we will play with France in last16, a lot of french players said after the WC that beating ARG was the turning point which gave them confidence that they are able to win it all. And that was a shambolic albiceleste, still beating a big nation give you confidence. Dont forget France played horrible in the group. Winning a WC is 50% mental minimum. Now should be the other way around, a mentally strong ARG vs a chaotic France with ego problems ( Mbappe and Benzema hate each other) wo their key midfielders. If we lose against this France then no way we would win the whole thing. Even with a succesful last16 performance vs a weaker team we would exit in last8 rather. Dont regret. But with the mental boost we would be much stronger.

        • WC winning pre tournament odds:

          98 France 5,5X, second biggest fav behind Brazil
          2002 Brazil 7X, 3rd behind France and ARG (but RRR have never played together before, so it was rather a false odds.)
          2006 Italy with 8X, Brazil odds were 2,5X LOL, then Arg, Italy, England, Germany all with 8X.
          2010 Spain 5X the biggest favourite ahead of Brazil 5,5
          2014 Germany 5X second biggest fav with Argentina, the first ofc Brazil with 3, the same old story, boring.
          2018 France 6,5 4th favourite behind Brazil (so boring) Germany and Spain.

          Brazil always failed as the top favourite, and won when everyone wrote them off completely. Our 6-7X odds and second-third place with France is the perfect position to win the WC historically. Beeing the biggest favourite is not good, but maybe its only a Brazil thing LOL.

        • No need to play France. Their playing style doesn’t suit us. If we avoid France there is a possibility that some other nation may knocked out france and we may never need to face them. They have mbappe coman dembele with such high speed and skillful wingers our fullbacks cant defend against them. This is wc no need to face tough teams so early. Remember they faced a shambolic Argentina side france is not bad atall right now

    • Never be everybody’s favorite and underperform. I don’t want no surprises in any of the matches and want our team to steamroll thru opponents unlike last time where we struggled every minute.

      Don’t know when we were so dominant in every game we played and won the cup if we ever did that way but despite coaching errors, the only recent memory I had was that in 2006 but that was a qtr finals exit. This time, I just want this team to go all the way and seal the legacy. 36yrs is a looong wait. I will probably stop watching football after this and Messi’s final season as I don’t think we will win it again anytime soon if we don’t this time atleast.

  4. The last place is between Foyth vs A Correa (if Dybala is in). That’s according to Gaston Edul which should be correct.

    I think Foyth is good and would be useful but honestly I don’t think the 9th defender is that much needed. Lemme tell you why. In Copa we also had 9 defenders with LM Quarta being the 9th but he wasn’t needed that much even if Cuti is injured almost throughout the tournament (he was back only in the final). Do you remember LM Quarta playing significant minutes in Copa? Even the 4th CB back up named Licha played few minutes back then.

    Brazil also bring only 8 defenders. Also another reason is that most of our midfielders are not fit but almost all of our defenders are fit, but Cuti who will be fit in a week from now. Another reason, it is no secret that Scaloni still sees Montiel as the main back up of Molina. So if we bring Foyth, despite his versatility, he will likely not play anyway in the World Cup (similar situation to LM Quarta in Copa).

    Yes A Correa also has a lot of competitors for left or right wingers. There are Di Maria, Messi, Nico, J Correa, and Dybala for 2 positions. Alvarez can play there too. But Correa already gels with the team. He said in his interview, he would like to be part of the WC team even as a ball boy. Correa never disappoints at all when playing. So my vote goes to A Correa.

    For those who worry that Palacios, Enzo could be the ones dropped. It is NOT going to happen, don’t worry.

    Those who wish J Correa or MacAlliater to be dropped (including me). It is also not going to happen.

    Just accept it the final spot is Foyth vs A Correa. Dybala will be in almost for sure

    • Lol 😂🤣😹 ur comparing world cup with copa?? Our only tough games were semi and final and in semis our 2 rb found wanting. We have enough talent in cb position so 5 cb doesn’t make sense. Plus fifa will not spare any bad tackles go unpunished which is not the case with copa or conmeble wc qualifiers.

      • Copa has a different brand of football and our defense has both the balls and the technical attributes for the first time in a long time. We’re one way or the other and not both at the same time against opponents like Brazil. Had Brazil played more open football like perhaps Italy in the finalissima, that same defense is capable of making thru balls and passes linking up with the midfield well.

        My assumption is that most of our injured players are being cautious and not really putting in a ton of effort until the WC. Let’s see what we can bring to the table…

  5. I hope the fictious interview below will not happen!
    >>
    Saturday 3 December 2022 late at night. A tearful Messi announces his retirement from the NT after a loss in the round of 16.
    – ‘What went wrong, Leo?’
    ‘It is too early to tell, but I think the success of the Copa and Finalissima blinded us. We desperately hung on to a winning team while we knew that half of that team was not fit. De Paul had not played a full match in weeks, Paredes was and is still recovering, Lo Celso joined us here but was unable to play. It was sad to see that both Nico and Fideo got injured again in the match against Mexico.’

    – ‘What happened with Romero?
    ‘I don’t know. He played little at Spurs. Maybe a mental issue, but Licha did his best.’

    – ‘What about the red cards for Angel Correa and Otamendi?’
    ‘When we were 2-0 down, they overreacted to minor incidents. It’s their temper.’

    – ‘With 9 men it became a mission impossible?’
    ‘When Paolo scored in the 86th minute, I had hope. But there was not enough time.’

    – ‘Sorry, Leo. We all wished you a glorious ending to an amazing career in the NT.’
    ‘Gracias.’

    – ‘What’s next?’
    ‘I will finish the season with PSG and then join Suarez, Pique and someone special at Miami.’

    – ‘Will we never see you again in the NT shirt?’
    ‘I wanted that third star so much. It will be hard to put on a 2 star shirt again. Maybe for a tribute match, but otherwise no.’
    <<

    Again, I hope this will not be the case and we will be crowned champions. However, the scenario becomes more likely every day…

  6. We played without LoCelso in the past and never felt LoCelso so irreplaceable until he got injured right before the world cup. He has become an integral part of the team and no doubt that Argentina will miss his service, but let’s accept the reality.

    Argentina is weak not because LoCelso is out (most likely), we could have compensate for LoCelso’s loss had we had other players fit. The truth is that we are dealing with so many injuries and match fitness issues. It’s gonna be tricky for Scaloni and he will need to take some bold decisions.

    One example is to include Enzo in the starting line up, who is the most inform and fit player right now despite he played very little with Argentina. I think that you can take that risk especially with Enzo, who has shown so far excellent adaptability with both Benifica and Argentina. And, Scaloni needs to do it from match one to allow the new midfield trio to grow during the group stage.

    However, if he keeps his experiment with McAllister, playing him ahead of Enzo or Palacios for attacking midfield position, he will squander valuable time that will very likely cost us.

  10. Why are we taking 9 defenders? to me is ridiculous montiel did nothing earn to go world Cup, Lopetegui completely dropped him before jorge sampoali came give him lifeline, still unconvincing it’s no brainer it should be 8 defender including foyth who will be perfect back for molina and that extra spot should been a attacking midfielder , there is only one candidate in my opinion thaigo almada but sadly that ain’t happening at least I say my piece,

    • 9 defenders r important as we know foyth is coming back from a big injury plus a defender made of glass named Romero. Romero misses more game than he plays for us. Plus in a long tournament maximum injury and card problem can happen with defenders. Prblm is we don’t have a good midfielder apart from Enzo. We should have selected an attacking midfielder in place of McAllister or paredes. We have Enzo and guido. Why paredes or McAllister?? Plus paredes is still injured

    • Only de Paul lo celso Paredes and guido have experience playing against big teams. Rest of the midfielders were not even started or played for Argentina. And all of a sudden players like Enzo macallister palacios papu are in contention to start in a tournament like wc. 😔

  11. LoCelso is 99% out…!
    Dybala is not 100% sure to be recovered on time…!
    Foyth also not fully fit/match fit…!

    Then it’s going to be 25. A surprise inclusion will be there in the last minute..?

    Why they already cut to 28 before the final injury update..? They are sure Foyth is ready..? He can directly play in the WC after 2 months of inactivity? Any player will take some matches to be back to his best.
    Or coaching staff are so sure somehow Dybala will be recovered..?

    • Scaloni has bottled it in my opinion by bringing in the injured lads / unfit to the world cup.
      Why on earth do we have to select injured players and leave fit players at home? Funny but thats how Argentina curse works

      I have seen Argentina loose in many world cups but this time I will be really sad as this is Messi’s last chance.

      Hope Argentina goes all the way and lift the world cup.

    • Argentina can bring any player 24 hours before the wc starts for replacement. So its not a big deal. You can’t drop everyone who is injured. If the players become fit before the wc then its not a big deal.

    • We need more rigourous decisions. Everyone who is not able to play tomorrow should be cut from the list. Bring only fit players to the WC.

    • It’s only your assumption that lo celso is out. I am optimistic. Yeah there is less chance. But I prefer the updates to get as late as possible thus may be he can recover and we can’t ignore the possibility.

      • Almost every reports say, he can’t play group games even if he recovered somehow..
        So, the chance of taking him to the WC is almost none as Scaloni already told, he wants players who can be ready from the first match.

  16. i might have posted this before so forgive the duplicate..

    I truly hope Scaloni puts the kibosh on emotional outbursts during games. We cannot afford wasting time and losing focus in critical minutes. I might be biased but i swear Argentines are too freaking emotional. Most notably, Otamendi v France. RDP recently throwing a tantrum in the final minutes when ATL needed to score. Toro and Paredes are well known hot heads.

    • Bro you right and you are not a lone on this I have been following Argentina since 1999 yeah they are bit emotional, remember after disappointing penalty lose vs Germany 2006 Maxi Rodriguez and few others starting fighting after perkerman bottled In big time having said that scaloni is clam guy and he transmitted his calmness through the team plus Messi and co know they can’t afforded any emotions this time around

    • Yes. I think any one of buendia, almada or lanzini was helpful if lo celso is not fit. I mean they are different from lo celso but they can maintain that attacking instinct in that midfield. But I don’t think it’s gonna affect that much if players like Enzo, or macallister improves their attack.

    • Almada was selected for the last friendlies because he was there in USA…and he is a future star. He knows the condition there. If the friendly was in somewhere else, I think he wouldn’t have been selected.
      He’s a backup for Papu after the WC.
      Just my thoughts.

  18. I just looked up the time for ARG’s first game and its gonna be at 5AM Eastern Time U.S.
    Early waking up or no sleep and plenty of coffee and Let’s go.

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