By Sergio Levinsky, from Miami/Jornada
With 21 players of the 26 who won the World Cup in Qatar a year and a half ago (only Alejandro “Papu” Gómez will be absent – suspended for doping and, in fact, also canceled by the group -, Thiago Almada, Paulo Dybala, Juan Foyth and Ángel Correa), it is very clear that, in general terms, Scaloni decided to respect the hierarchy of the champions, starting a very small renovation that, we imagine, will be somewhat greater in the span of the two years that will start from the Copa América to the 2026 World Cup.
It is already known that this Cup will be the “last dance” for Angel Di Maria and we will have to see what happens with other veteran players like Franco Armani, Nicolás Otamendi and Lionel Messi himself, who does not claim to reach the 2026 World Cup in any of the interviews he gave (all, with centers for him to head, as if no one dared to press the accelerator for fear of altering him).
There were only five places left to add non-World Cup players for 2022 and of them, in fact, two correspond to members of the previous cycle who for physical reasons (called injuries) did not make it to the maximum event, such as Giovani Lo Celso and Nicolás González, fixed in this cycle from 2023 to today, so it cannot be said that they represent an authentic renewal. By the way, neither did Lucas Martínez Quarta, with less prominence, but who was also part of the other cycle.
The new true ones, those who are added to the squad and with visions of the future, are, without a doubt, Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United) and Valentín Carboni (Monza) who, although different, could be called “Europibes”, the new category of elite soccer players who were not born in the country but are the children of Argentines and who feel the colors as if they had lived their entire lives in the national territory.
Yeah Grenache and Carboni They have vast experience in leagues such as the English and Italian, respectively, it can be said that as a renewal, it is very scarce and Almada, already a world champion but destined for the Olympic Games, could be added, plus those excluded at the end like Valentín Barco and Leonardo Balerdi.
But everything indicates that this National Team that will compete in the Copa América in search of continuing a winning cycle that began with the Brazil Copa America 2021continued with the Finalissima 2022 and the 2022 World Cup, It does not represent a profound renewal, which is what, in some way, Scaloni hinted at every time he could, and among others, with ourselves, in an interview we did with him alone in Paris, in January 2023, a month after consecrating champion, and in the context of the Ballon d’Or award ceremony.
On that occasion, a very confident Scaloni had warned that age does not matter and that if a footballer was 35 years old or 17, he would play for the national team if he performed well on his team and, on the contrary, he would not be called up as a permanent player. of the world champions if their reality was not what was expected.
With 21 called up of the 26 who won the World Cup a year and a half ago and with the appearance of so many interesting players (Federico Redondo, Leandro Gondou, Matías Soulé, Facundo Bounanotte, Nicolás Paz, Alejo Véliz, Facundo Medina, among others), the A commitment to “the usual guys” by the technical director is risky, especially because of his own statements and because part of the crisis he experienced internally months ago, when he questioned his continuity in the position, was related to this same fact.
It seems like it would have been in another century but it wasn’t when Scaloni saidin an absorbed conference room at the Maracaná stadium in Rio de Janeiro after the 1-0 victory against Brazil for World Cup qualification for 2026, that he had to take some time to think about his situation in the team, that perhaps the National Team He was needing a coach who could give one hundred percent of his energy and he didn’t know if he had it, and many thought about saying goodbye, which was later not ratified.
Later, Scaloni acknowledged that he was able to meet alone with Messi to define many things, and one of them is a need for renewal in the face of some players who, at least at that time, were not performing at their full potential, although now several of them have improved. a percentage, harassed by the proximity of the Cup and perhaps the chances of being left out of the final list.
If some had superlative performances last season like “Dibu” Martínez at Aston Villa, qualified for the Champions League, or “Cuti” Romero with Tottenham (Real Madrid began to fight for his pass), or Alexis Mac Allister at Liverpool, or also Lautaro Martínez at Inter, others did not reach the same level, such as Nahuel Molina, highly questioned at Atlético Madrid, Gonzalo Montiel, still adapting to the Premier League with the Nottingham Forest, Enzo Fernandez He just had surgery after a year with many problems in the Chelsea and Julián Álvarez, evidently relegated by the Norwegian Erling Haaland at Manchester City despite his good numbers, but he does not seem to have much interest in leaving the comfort zone.
On the other hand, although the act of human justice on the part of the coach is understood in wanting to give an opportunity to those who lost the chance to be a World Cup player due to injuries, such as Nicolás González or Lo Celso (as well as Martínez Quarta, who was not in Qatar due to a technical decision), none of the three seems to give the team a step up in the quality ladder, although it is clear that they have been part of the group for some time.
The Argentine team – which we will be following throughout the tournament from Jornada both in the paper and online versions of the newspaper and on the radio – then arrives at the Copa América in the United States as a logical candidate as it is the world champion and maintaining the status in the friendlies, always chosen in such a way that the rivals do not occupy high positions in the ranking and are not annoying – something that we do not understand from the prestige and the sporting friction necessary against powers -, with a Lionel Messi who continues at a good level despite the fact that playing the MLS is not the same as a European league (and that against Guatemala he has just caught up with Pelé with 56 goals in friendlies with the National Team, 20 behind the Hungarian Ferenc Puskas, who has the record ), and with the question mark about whether collectively it will be possible to continue at the level reached in recent times without there having been almost a change of figures.
Uruguay – which already beat the Argentine team in Buenos Aires for the World Cup qualification, and with an important renewal since its arrival as DT of Marcelo Bielsa-, Colombia, which with another Argentine as technical director, Néstor Lorenzo, changed a lot and does not look like the previous cycle, and Brazil, starting a new cycle somewhat late with Dorival Junior after the great crisis that for now keeps it anguished as to upon their arrival at the 2026 World Cup but with great figures, they appear on the horizon as the Albiceleste’s greatest rivals, with the possible surprises of Venezuela (with another Argentine, Fernando Batista) and Chile (due to what Ricardo Gareca can provide as coach) .
In any case, and even above the Argentine team, we wait for the start of a new Copa América, now with the addition of the six Concacaf teams, as a true party, in which the games are fun and our players demonstrate to the world the capacity and talent that they continue to have, beyond the permanent attempt of European rationality to order everything. As the great Eduardo Galeano said, we are beggars of good football. Don’t fail us.
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