Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni spoke to the media after the team’s 5-0 win against Zambia.
Lionel Scaloni held a press conference after the match where he discussed the team’s performance, Lionel Messi and players being called up. Here is what he had to say about the match:
“The important thing is that what happened the other day didn’t happen again; I think today it was shown that it was an accident and the team, by working together, manages to play well.
“With this shirt, you can’t relax. You can play well or poorly but there are things that must not happen and the team understood that. That’s the most important thing.
“The player always has to feel that any national team match is crucial in consideration, I think they all understand that.
“The players give their all. In football, we know that the best doesn’t always win but there are ways and ways to carry out a line of play. And the demand has always been the maximum and they have responded.”
Scaloni also spoke about Lionel Messi:
“If he (Messi) wants to come, it will be an honor again We have the feeling that he always wants to be there and compete. Hopefully that’s the case and we can enjoy him.”
When talking about the team and calling up players:
“Everyone has a chance to be a starter, we don’t bring in players to make up the numbers. There should always be balance in the team.
“The team grows strong through ball possession. We emphasize that, which also has to do with how well the players know each other and these are things we have already tested.
“Many of the players are going to play important things towards the end of the season and we wish for all of them to arrive in the best possible way from now on.
“We have to prepare because what is coming is going to be really tough. We have seen great football and hopefully we can keep delivering it.
“The first thing I think about when deciding on call-ups is the physical and mental state. Everyone who is here already knows what they play for and they know what the team plays for.
“It will be a very complex, difficult World Cup. We will need everyone to arrive in the best possible shape and in that way compete against whoever.”
Well said. However, for a complex and difficult World Cup, have we tested ourselves enough since our defeat in the hands of Ecuador to end the World Cup qualifiers. Common football sense says it would impact our chances to proceed deeper into the tournament? I think the team preferred to stay inside the champions’ bubble rather than challenging themselves. Fortunately the Spain match did not happen. Mauritania match exposed us badly.