Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni spoke about his team’s loss vs. Saudi Arabia at the World Cup.
In one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history, World Cup favorites Argentina lost their opening match at the 2022 World Cup vs. Saudi Arabia. Argentina would go on to lift the trophy but it was a difficult start for Lionel Scaloni’s team. Scaloni spoke with AFAEstudio about the loss. Here is what he had to say:
“That game was very strange. For a coach, it’s ripping up the coaching card because everything we told them, was done. It happened and we didn’t win. It’s a one in a thousand game. We deserved to win the first half three or four-nil and in two minutes they scored two goals and it cost us to recover from it.
“It was a big blow but I was calm on the bench. I’m not saying I knew that everything that happened was going to happen but there were two ways to go at that moment: Say I’m going crazy, start to make changes, scream, wake them up or calm down and see if the came could be drawn or won. And after that, wipe the slate clean.
“The feeling in the match and on the pitch was strange. It was a bad turnaround and the match was already another match after the 2-1 score. We ran the risk that this loss would hurt us more than could happen to us. The World Cup continue, it was the first game and we to leave it as it was.
“Obviously it was a difficult loss. It had been a long time we didn’t lose but I knew that it could happen at any moment. It happened in the best (time), truthfully.”
The 2014 players were brought in for the celebrations, is der a video or photos of the events…will be interesting to watch.
Yeah that loss was always a blessing. It forced scaloni to play 2 of our 💎. Enzo and Macallister. That 2 made our midfield a ball dominating one and gave scaloni a lot of flexibility to the team. I am a big lo celso fan but to be frank I doubt if he can play 6-7 great games in a row. Lot remaining from this gem of midfield. They all linking with Messi well and turning the Maestro again into prime. And now scaloni got another opportunity to fulfill a dream remaining for me. That is to recreate a Redondo Riquelme Banega to play with Messi through Enzo macallister and lo celso. I hope he can again create that beautiful football.
Totally agree. Otherwise, we won’t see the rise of Enzo. Apart from talent, Enzo has the confidence and arrogance to play at the top level. He seeks the ball, enjoys the biggest stage. This cannot be taught. You can clearly see from Curacao game that Lo Celso has the skills, he always had, but he is not dominant mentally. He doesn’t have the “I am the midfield boss” mentality.
My go forward midfield will be McAllister, Enzo and de Paul. Need a replcement for De Paul. mid term to long term.
Back to the Saudi game, I was like there you go again. I was more depressed than the 2014 final loss. The Messi goal against Mexico was the diamond.
The only reason Argentina lost that game is because of the shitty rules of offsides as emphasized by the VAR. Imagine using someone’s lean to determine offside.
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