“For the next match, the fair thing to do, and I think it will be, is for the boys who have not played these two games to play, because I need to see them and they deserve it,” said Lionel Scaloni in the press conference after the agonizing victory against Chile, in the match corresponding to the second date of Group A of the Copa América.
Lautaro Martínez’s 1-0 in the 88th minute sealed Argentina’s second win and, in addition, their qualification for the quarterfinals of the tournament. The third match in the group stage will be against Peru this Saturday, June 29, at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The conditions of this match allow the coach to think about an alternative formation, a rotation, the inclusion of players who need to play and the exclusion of those who need to rest.
The possibility of Lionel Messi returning to the starting line-up in the last group match is slim. The guaranteed qualification, the discomfort he has in his adductor and the coach’s desire to give minutes to those who have not yet played in the tournament make up a solid argument to justify the absence of the Rosario star in a venue that will regret his absence: Argentina will play in the city that beats to the rhythm of Messi and his current club, Inter Miami.
The alarm bells had been ringing in the first half, when the world’s best player was showing signs of pain in his right adductor and when he took advantage of a stoppage in play to seek medical assistance after a foul by Gabriel Suazo in the middle of the pitch. Messi finished the match and that represented a sign of calm. “I didn’t speak to Leo after the match. He finished playing. He ran with Ángel (Di María) and Lautaro (Martínez) for 50 metres and that’s the last image I have. I can’t say more because I didn’t see them,” Scaloni said in a press conference.
The coaching staff, for its part, has already made the decision to keep him so as not to rush his rehabilitation and so that he is physically fit for the quarter-final match, which will be played on Thursday, July 4 in Houston if the team finishes the first phase of the tournament in first place in its group. If it finishes second, it will do so on Friday, July 5 in Arlington, Texas. Thus, Messi will have nine or ten days for his discomfort in the right adductor to disappear.
Scaloni thinks of a formation without the 10 and with several changes. The goal is an uncertainty: the chances of Dibu Martínez leaving the title are, in any case, slim. The goalkeeper from Mar del Plata has a goal. “I continue to set goals. I want to play a hundred games for the national team and have the biggest clean sheet in history,” he said at the beginning of 2024. For now he has 30 clean sheets in 41 games in the Albiceleste, far from the 47 goals. zero that Chiquito Romero achieved in 96 appearances with Argentina, although with a much higher average. However, it is still not clear if he will finally give up his place under the three sticks so that Gerónimo Rulli can add minutes, when it already seems clear that Franco Armani is considered as the third goalkeeper.
There will be changes in defense. Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martínez played the 180 minutes of the cup at a very high level. Both would have a rest: Otamendi would return to the starting lineup as the second central marker and his partner will emerge from the fight between two former River players: Germán Pezzella and Lucas Martínez Quarta. In relation to the sides, Scaloni repeated a method in the first two duels: exhausting the modifications near the end of the game with a double change of the wings. Against Canada, Gonzalo Montiel and Nicolás Tagliafico entered in the 88th minute to replace Nahuel Molina and Marcos Acuña, respectively. Against Chile, Montiel and Acuña entered in the 82nd minute for Molina and Tagliafico. Against Peru, the chances are growing that Montiel will start from the start, while Acuña, due to a muscle discomfort, will give Tagliafico his place at left back.
In the midfield, another change. Exequiel Palacios, a player from Bayer Leverkusen, a sensation in Europe, could get his first minutes in the tournament, replacing Rodrigo De Paul. Leandro Paredes, for his part, would return to the starting line-up to play in the central midfield after having played against Canada and rested against Chile. The third factor in the midfield involves a fight between Giovanni Lo Celso and Enzo Fernández, who played both matches in the tournament without influencing the development of the game.
See alsoWhat is the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami like where Argentina and Peru will face each other? And in attack, there are surprises. It is almost certain that the tournament’s top scorer, Lautaro Martínez, will be included instead of Julián Álvarez, and that Alejandro Garnacho will make his debut in the Copa América. The doubt in attack is on the right of the attack: Scaloni is thinking about whether to respect Ángel Di María’s starting position and captaincy or if he prefers to give Valentín Carboni a chance, the youngest player in the squad – at 19 years and two months he is the fifth youngest in the Cup – and a gamble by the coach.
The lineup of the Argentine team will be defined in the next training sessions. “We are satisfied because now we will be able to enjoy a few days and make the boys who also deserve it play,” the coach revealed after the 1-0 against Chile.
For now, there are seven players who have not played in this Copa América: goalkeepers Armani and Rulli, defender Pezzella, midfielders Palacios and Guido Rodríguez, and attackers Garnacho and Carboni. In the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Scaloni boasts of having used all the field players: the only ones who did not participate in any match were the substitute goalkeepers, Armani and Rulli.
