Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni spoke at a press conference after the team’s 3-0 win vs. El Salvador about the players he has in the team.
Lionel Scaloni started 2024 with a 3-0 win and made a few changes to the team which would normally start and also gave the chance to young players against El Salvador. Scaloni spoke to the media after the match, here is what he had to say:
“I plan to make more chances in the next match against Costa Rica.”
Nehuén Pérez played as a right back against El Salvador and Nicolás Tagliafico as a center back. Scaloni commented on some of the changes:
“Nahuel Molina came with a small sprained ankle and could not train the first few days. Those who are normally with us could not come due to injury and we gave the chance to Nehuén (Pérez), who, it’s not his natural position but he’s done it well.”
Valentín Barco also played his first match for Argentina, brought on as a substitute:
“I wanted to see him and give him the opportunity to debut. We liked how Barco approached the trainings. Obviously he has to correct a lot of things but for his age, he has a lot of potential and you have to exploit that.”
Up front, it was Lautaro Martínez who started and Scaloni spoke about Lautaro not scoring:
“Lautaro (Martínez) is scoring for his team and he will score here. He played a good match, we are very calm with him.”
Scaloni spoke about the Copa America:
“We are not lacking players for the Copa America but rather we have plenty. It is a very nice problem to put together that list. We will always think about what is best for the team.”
The newcomers fared well but nothing explosive about them. They would take time to fit in. Perez looked sloppy, may be because he was in a position new to him. Garnacho showed some sparks but missed a couple of easy chances. Buonanotte did some good moves in the final third and was better than his first match. Barco and Garnacho can actually build up good connections in the future. Why “can”? They “have to” if they want their national team to succeed during their era. IMHO Romero, Paredes, Di Maria, Enzo, Lo Celso were brilliant against a very weak opponent. Let’s see what is still left in them in the next challenge against Costa Rica. It would not be an easy match like today. Lautaro is now a liability for the team. He only fits a particular style of attack which his boss at Inter has planned for him match after match. Di Marco and everyone runs from right and left like sprinters and feed the ball in for him and Thurram. That strategy expired in Champions League. Lautaro needs to adapt to Scaloni’s stayle again. Otherwise he would lose his position to Alvarez and Garnacho for ever.
But Soule’s score in a different match was the happiest thing for the NT fans today.
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