Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni spoke at a press conference on Thursday before the team’s Round of 32 match against Cabo Verde at the World Cup.
Lionel Scaloni held a press conference on Thursday where he spoke about the team’s match against Cabo Verde in Miami, Florida. Speaking to the media, here is what he had to say:
“We are excited like everyone else but we have an opponent to respect.
“The one who loses goes home and we have to take that into account. Very close matches are being played, it’s not going to be easy.
“Cabo Verde is a team that hasn’t lost and against Saudi Arabia they even deserved to win. They block passes well and know how to break on the counter. They are a good team.
“Maybe it would have been better to play it at night because of the heat but the temperature is the same for both. We don’t complain about that.”
Scaloni also spoke about Lionel Messi:
“The team creates many chances. Leo is not only a great player but also one of the team’s forwards. We try to get everyone to score but the important thing is what we have been creating.”
The heat might be of big concern but definitely not bigger than the opponent, which has an excellent defence. Scaloni needs to rotate players well.
It’s 89 degrees F here in Miami right now, feels like 100!!!! And they are calling for thunderstorms this afternoon! This may get hectic. The main beach front blvd is filled with Argentine fans.
Miami es la casa che, 100 degrees or not.
Messi will be practically playing at home, a sea of sky-blue and white and then some today. WC CHAMPS, play your game, hit ’em hard and hit ’em quick and there won’t be a Cinderella fairy tale tonight. FIFA tends to change things up every WC, 2022, it was beaucoup fouls, Pks and extended extra time while now they’re basically letting players get away with murder, very few PK calls and almost no yellow cards in the first half.
CV will play physical and hopefully nobody gets hurt.
As Always, LET’S GO ARGENTINA
The thing that concerns me is that we still haven’t hit our peak in attack. In 2022, we weren’t great going forward in the first two games, but everything clicked in the third, and we never looked back. This time, though, our third game was actually our worst attacking performance of the tournament. Granted, it was mostly the reserve players, so it didn’t matter much.
Still, going into the knockout stage without finding our attacking rhythm is a bit concerning. I hope today is the game where it all comes together. We need look lively apart from Messi. I want to see Enzo making those crazy line breaking passes, Macca playing those wild one twos to spark counterattacks, and Lautaro, Alvarez, and Almada all creating and scoring. I’d also love to see more of Barco. He was fantastic in the last game with so much intensity and energy.
Most importantly, I hope we stay injury free and win without needing extra time, especially since the next match is only three days later.
Our attack clicked because we introduced young blood which is not the case now.
I expect a great game from Almada as he is growing into the tournament and he combines well with Messi, Enzo, Macallister and Julian. It’s Lautaro that needs to step up today. Wasted chances and passes in the box in the group stages. And Lautaro is a poacher and this is a game where he could thrive to get that first goal and open the game up.
Fully trust in Scaloni. We dont know the team better than Scaloni. If he keeps giving dont matter how.
As stated by many people here, we will need creativity to break open a tight defence with many players in and around the box. Without wingers that can dribble past defenders and strikers that aren’t in the best form, someone suggested we should use Nico Gonzalez and Simeone to provide width. I agree to a certain extent. They can create space for those in the middle, but gambling on crosses would be a mistake. Statistics show that crossing from open play is hugely inefficient, only 1 open cross out of 91 leads to a goal on average (the research can be found on the internet). Let’s therefore hope Scaloni fields our 2 most creative players, Messi and Paz together upfront. Once the deadlock has been broken, Alvarez and/or Lautaro can come on because Cabo Verde will have to come forward and more space will appear.
Enjoy the game today!
Paz / Lo celso should start instead of Almada.
Starting without a proper No. 9 when you have Julian and lautaro available is madness. Sampaoli made a similar blunder against France by benching Aguero and higuan to play Pavon!!
Julian is coming off an injury after a long season, and Lautaro didn’t play badly against Jordan. Against austria and algeria, he simply didn’t receive the same level of service that Messi did.that said, Messi is still the best attacking player in the team, which is why so much of the attack naturally goes through him.
One of the reason neither alvarez or Lautaro has scored open-play goals is that Messi hasnt been man marked yet! He is finding himself in great positions and getting a lot of the ball in dangerous areas. If Cape Verde parks the bus and focuses on man marking Messi, he will then draw defenders, create space for the No. 9s, and provide the assists for them to score. Having said that Enzo.and MacAllister are also both capable of creating chances need to also step up! Wining is more important than individual stats.
Just dropping Almada and playing Lo Celso is enough…We need number 9
Lautaro has played far better compared to 2022. He created so many spaces for messi and also make some good run. But u r right he didnt receive a good delivery so far. Regarding Juliuan i have always high expectations from him. Hopefully he will deliver too.
I don’t see how Messi and Paz can play together.