Change the forms, without losing the essence that took the Argentine National Team to the top of the world for the third time in history. That is the premise that the coaching staff led by Lionel Scaloni and that the footballers repeat, each with their personal vision, while they walk through the narrow labyrinth in the mixed zone of the MetLife stadium, where on Tuesday they defeated Chili on the hour by 1 to 0. And the reference is clear: the ‘Ferrari’s’ – as immortalized by the former soccer player and now Argentine panelist Jorge D’Alessandro – are in the pits, solving with magic tricks the difficult mission that building a game through the center of the field has becomeone of the main virtues of the Scaloneta.
“Everyone will want to beat the champion team”warned the coach of the Albiceleste before starting the journey in the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. And the way that rival coaches find is to try to overpopulate the midfield, trying to increase the number of legs to cut off the gestation circuit that, due to quality and strategy, usually enhances the individualities of the National Team.
Mind you, it’s not that Argentina lacked play, it flowed as always, but it did have to change its approach.. Jumping with elevated balls was a constant temptation for football generators. Reversing the ball at a good pace is much more important than running faster.
That’s why, during this Copa America, the ‘Gringo’ from Pujato tried out variants. Against Canada he put together a line of four midfielders with Angel Di Maria -on the right-, Leandro Paredes next to Rodrigo De Paul as a double pivot and Alexis MacAllister on the other side.
In fact, when attacking, ‘Colo’ sank through the rival’s central zone to generate a direct passing line to the wing to Marcos Acuñamuch more ‘stretched’ in his position as a full-back. The Roma player would get between the centre-backs (Cuti Romero and Lisandro Martínez) to give greater clarity on the first pass.
Paradoxically, or not really, The two goals that gave him the victory against the North Americans were plays that were created from the outside and ended inside.Messi assisted Mac Allister -who touched the ball to the side for Julián Álvarez to finish- and then to Lautaro Martínez.
For the second step of the title defense, against Chile, there were modifications. Alexis Mac Allister stood at ‘5’, and the triangle with De Paul and Enzo Fernández returned. The same as in the World Cup in Qatar, although the men from Liverpool and Chelsea were castled.
The native of San Martín and identified with River was the one who suffered the most from that wall of red shirts every time he took the ball. There were some phases of continuity on the ball with two or three associated players, but the best was seen on the left wing with Nicolás González.
In possession of the ball, Scaloni’s team seemed much more patient. He had 64% against Canada (604 passes) and 61% against Chile (551), which resulted in dangerous occasions (19 shots in the first match and 22 in the second match).
“It was a very tight match, we had trouble finding spaces. I don’t want to dwell on that too much, but the pitch doesn’t help much either. Because you can’t play first, you can’t play fast, you always need more time, even two. And it’s difficult to find spaces between the lines and when you move it from one side to the other, it becomes slower. But well, we were able to get through it, get the victory and, above all, qualify to be calm.”explained, with his usual clarity, the star Lionel Messi before the microphone Clarion.
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The captain of the national team spoke in the mixed zone and was far from calming.
“I think many people have said it, all the matches are going to be difficult, they are going to play against us in a way that we are sometimes not used to. It is a nice challenge to keep working, changing our ways but without losing the essence of the Argentine National Team.”reinforced Nicolas Tagliafico.
“They all get behind us, they hit us, the referees sometimes don’t give us much credit. But, in the end, having players with so much quality, 90 minutes can’t last,” he concluded. Emiliano Dibu Martineza privileged actor in the Scaloneta game, who is reconfigured but maintains his hunger for glory.
