Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni spoke to the press following the team’s 4-1 win vs. Bolivia at the Copa America.

Lionel Scaloni saw his team win three and draw on in the group stage as they qualified for the quarter finals as group winners. In regards to the match, here’s what Scaloni had to say:

“The idea was to create a lot of goal scoring opportunities, even if the pitch conditions were not ideal. The players understood the message, we had to win and I liked the team’s attitude.”

Scaloni also spoke about his Argentina team:

“The balance is positive: We played against strong rivals and we faced matches in the best way. We believe that a lot of the players who had played very little minutes deserved this opportunity.

“Everyone showed that they can be in the team but only 11 play at a time. A lot of players are at a good level. The team was always the protagonist. There are times where you could be tired and show something else, you can’t dominate for 90 minutes. It’s logical that there are things to improve but we are satisfied.”

In regards to Ecuador who Argentina will face on Saturday:

“We have the utmost respect for Ecuador, they have shown to be a good team, young and dynamic.”

Lionel Messi starts for Argentina and as does Sergio Aguero who reaches 100 matches for the national team.

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni confirmed the starting eleven on Sunday and he has kept his word. It will be the same eleven which he announced and that means all six players that are on yellow cards will not be starting the match.

Here is the starting eleven:

Armani, Montiel, Pezzella, L. Martínez, Acuña, G. Rodríguez, Palacios, A. Gómez, A. Correa, Messi and Agüero

The players dropped from the squad for today are Angel Di Maria, Joaquin Corera, Cristian Romero, Emiliano Martinez and Nahuel Molina.

Lionel Scaloni spoke on Sunday at a press conference and commented about the national team, in addition to confirming the starting eleven on Monday’s last group stage game against the already-eliminated Bolivia.

Coach Scaloni commented on Brazil, complimented Lionel Messi, talked about the dispute in the left-back position of the national team, and minimized Argentina’s 16 games unbeaten streak.

Here is what Argentina’s coach had to say:

“We are aware that any opponent will be difficult. What we want is to reach the highest in this cup.”

“Honestly, the number of games without losing is not that important for me. I am interested that the team is doing well. It leaves us calm that we are a solid team, although there are always things that we would like to improve.”

Regarding Argentina’s left-back position:

“(Marcos) Acuña and (Nicolás) Tagliafico are players we like; we are happy with both. We can rotate them through the games, and we are satisfied with both players.”

About Lionel Messi:

“I think that in regards to Messi, everything has been said. We are proud to have him and convinced that he will give us more joy.”

In addition, Lionel Scaloni added that Lionel Messi is the only player who always has a place secured inside the starting eleven:

“In this team there is only one player who has a place secured in the starting eleven and everyone knows who he is. The rest have to earn it. For us, it is important that no one relaxes and that they continue to demonstrate game after game. They know it very well.”

Regarding the possibility of facing Brazil in a hypothetical final, here is what Scaloni had to say:

“The last game that Brazil lost was with Argentina; it was an even match. Between two such powerful teams, anything can happen. They are a consolidated team, but nothing should be ruled out.”

Finally, Scaloni gave hope to the Argentine fans for what is to come:

“We believe that we can compete to the maximum with all the teams. We are convinced that this is the way to go.”