Special day. Lionel Scalonithe technician of the Argentine National Team who defends his title in the America Cup in the United States and has already secured qualification for the quarter-finals, could not attend the press conference prior to Saturday’s duel in Miami, against Perufor the third and last date of Group A. The DT, who will not have his captain Lionel Messi Due to physical discomfort, he did not speak since was sanctioned by CONMEBOL That’s why, In his place was Walter Samuel, one of his assistants, who spoke with the media.
The world champion coach in Qatar 2022 He was sanctioned for an attitude in the previous matches won in the United States, against Canada and Chile. The team entered the field late on two occasions and that forced the organizers to take disciplinary measures.. In this way, the Pujato native would only be able to watch the match from one of the boxes at the Hard Rock Stadium. In his place could be Samuel, Pablo Aimar or Roberto Ayala, assistant coaches.
The sanction is framed within article 145 of the General Regulations of the Copa América 2024, carried out by Conmebol. And that is why Scaloni is left out of said Albiceleste crossing, which has six units (ideal score) and aims to close Group A as leader, a goal that will be achieved only by drawing.
At times, Samuel smiled and looked at Germán Pezzella, to see who would answer the journalists’ questions first. “I’m not used to this.”he commented.
“Leo (Messi) had an adductor problem and we will see his evolution day by day. The same thing happens with the case of Acuña, to see if we can have them in the next quarterfinal match“he explained.
“He is bitter about Lionel’s (Scaloni) sanction, because I wanted to be there tomorrow. We are going to abide by what CONMEBOL decided, but it is normal that it is wrong. I think we are a coaching staff that gets along well. We found out today. It was a shock. Sometimes you stay talking about some detail. You never want to take advantage., but that’s it. We know that it was Gareca’s turn too… We are correct, I think that in total they only gave us a yellow card once, me (laughs). We want to leave this issue behind and think about Saturday’s game,” said Samuel.
“To define the team we have another training today. There Leo defines the team well. I am here for an obvious situation, but the formation will be decided this afternoon by Scaloni“Di Maria? He was always an option when Messi wasn’t there, but we’ll see if he’ll be there against Peru,” admitted his assistant.
“The debut against Canada, after the bad experience at the World Cup in Qatar, was difficult, but we knew it was going to be difficult. We adapted well, we played a great game, just like against Chile. The balance is good, because we know how to assimilate different situations“, he said.
“We’re going game by game. We’re already qualified, but we still want to play a great game and beat Peru.. We want to keep everyone well. We are thinking about forming the best team and winning, as always“We will then see what alternatives there are for the next match of the Cup,” Samuel admitted.
“Valentín (Carboni) and Ale (Garnacho) may have a good opportunity. We have great expectations and hope for both of them.They earned a place, they train very well and They deserve to be here; they didn’t come to complete the list.“, he assured.
“Peru is a tough rival, we will try to hurt him with the team that takes the field, to try to finish first. It has top players, like Guerrero, Lapadula… We take the game with the utmost seriousness. We don’t think about whether there is a substitute or not; We will put together a great team, determined to go out and seek victory. If we underestimate the rival? We want to achieve first place in the group, you never underestimate a rival. Yes we arrived classified, although that does not mean that it is taken differently“said Scaloni’s assistant.
“We must see everyone as if they were finals, whether Ecuador or Mexico, possible opponents in the quarterfinals of the end. Favoritism is very difficult now, because there are teams at a high levellike Uruguay, also Venezuela, which is a surprise for some but not for us. It is a very tough Copa America. Brazil? I don’t think it’s in a crisis, as many people say.“he added.
“What would be a failure? We give everything, if some result does not happen, it can happen, but it will be for others to talk about it,” he concluded.
Pezzella He was happy to be in the Albiceleste squad. “The 26 of us here are working to have an opportunity. In this cycle it is clear that we all fight to earn a place, let’s hope we are. I am privileged to be wearing this shirt and I will try to make the most of whatever I get to play. There is too much responsibility. A rival was never underestimated. “We all put our ego aside and try to give everything for the team,” he said.
Asked if he is returning to River Plate now, the defender was direct: “It’s not the time to talk about that; I’m fully focused on the national team.”“.
