This Thursday the world champion will begin a new dream in search of a title, when he faces Canada from 9pm in group A. The memory of the conquest in Qatar is latent, but what happened from that day to today?
The picture of Gonzalo Montiel running towards the corner flag in tears while covering his face is still engraved in the memory of each of the Argentinians as if it had been yesterday. It will probably even last several more years, but the reality is that since that day when the ex-River scored the last goal of the penalty shootout in which the Argentine National Team beat France and became world champion for the third time in its history until this Thursday, when those led by Lionel Scaloni face Canada in the debut of the Copa América, exactly 550 days passed and several things changed.
If you recapitulate it, the first thing you can notice is that of the 26 who were in Asia, only 21 will repeat in the United States. They will no longer be Alejandro Gomez, who is suspended for doping, Thiago Almadawho had been in the World Cup due to Joaquín Correa’s injury and will go to the Olympic Games, John Foyth, Angel Correa, who also joined the World Cup to replace Nicolás González, and Paulo Dybala.
Some of these absences are explained, in part, by returns or new opportunities for youth players. Gonzalezwho breaks it at Fiorentina, and Giovani Lo Celso They will play a tournament again with the Albiceleste —were in 2021—to try to get rid of the thorn of having missed the World Cup just like Lucas Martínez Quarta, which will fill the Foyth void. While, Alejandro Garnachowho before the World Cup had already gone to the U-20 before the tournament and then joined the Major, and Valentin Carboniwhich had a similar process to that of United with the difference that Scaloni used it for the first time this year, will have their first official tournament with the light blue and white.
Valentín Carboni’s match against Guatemala
It should be noted that although the two youth players are part of the renewal that took place after the World Cup, In general terms, this replacement that some predicted was not done, among other issues, because it was not necessary since the level of the selection did not decline.. In fact, with the exception of Papu, who in addition to his suspension is 36 years old, all those who were left off the list could be considered again in the near future. Of course, this does not mean that new faces will soon begin to appear, many of them who have passed through Javier Mascherano’s U-20 team.
But not all were moments of calm and joy. A statement from Lionel Scaloni last November after Argentina will achieve a historic victory in Brazil, where they won 1-0 and ended the undefeated record at home that Verdeamarela had in the Qualifiersset off the alarms. “I need to think about what I’m going to do, this National Team needs a coach who has all the energy possible”the technician had confessed.
What were the reasons for this turbulence? The negotiation for the contract, which was renewed until 2026, generated wear and tear with the leaders, in addition to adding discomfort because there were several friendly matches with rivals who did not contribute much to him. Nevertheless, That uncertainty lasted two months because in January DT himself came out to confirm his continuity and recently he highlighted: “Until the president of the AFA wants, I will be there.”
Scaloni and his continuity in the Argentine National Team
From Qatar until now, a change has also been generated in the coaching staff because Damián Albil, the former goalkeeper who joined to work in the World Cup, will no longer be there, then he was in Independiente and in mid-2023 he joined Venezuela.
Finally, another of the relevant news that affected the National Team in recent times, but that was expected even during the World Cup, is the next departure of Angel Di Mariawho has already officially announced that he will stop wearing the light blue and white after this tournament.
The modifications in these almost two years were several, but if there is something that did not change it was the enthusiasm that Scaloni’s team generates on the playing field and the confidence that it transmits to its fans who, probably, dream of seeing it raise a goal again. cup in his hands, which would be the fourth in his career.
