The path of argentine national team In 2024 it begins in the United States. The world champions will start to warm up their engines with two friendlies against El Salvador and Costa Rica. The first step will be in Philadelphia and in this city the national group has been working for a couple of days. Coach, Lionel Scaloniknows well that after that day in Brazil, on the night of the Maracaná, a certain instability was generated regarding his future at the head of the team and in a talk with the official AFA channel, he spoke about a period of reflection.
“What I said was thought out, meditated, that moment was a moment of reflection, after a difficult year and it is crazy to say it after having won the World Cup.. But hey, it was complex on a sporting and personal level, life is a little disrupted when you achieve something like that. The truth is that it was thinking about what I wanted to do. I decided to stop the ball because I wanted some time to reflect. Important things are coming and you have to be well, lucid. After thinking about it, having meetings and with the people who needed to talk, we understood that we were in a position to continue,” said Lionel Scaloni, from Philadephia, in AFA Estudio.
And he continued: “I’m not saying I’m going to continue, because I never said I wasn’t going to do it. We make the decision to reinforce an idea. You have to try not to lower the piston. It’s about continuing to compete. The goal is to always do the best for the team. After the World Cup you feel a void and it is not easy to continue competing. Luckily we have a very competitive group, they are competitive animals. But I needed to tell him to reinforce our idea of continuing”.
In addition, Scaloni also commented that he had a difficult year at the family level and that the exposure that being a world champion implied made some things even more complicated: “The life of a footballer is being away from the family. When you have small children who are growing up, added to the problems of my parents, these are things that influence your personal life. In the end, the objective is always the same: to try to do the best for the team,” he stated.
The Argentine national team coach also assured that the team is not preparing in a different way to face this year, with the Copa América ahead: “Argentina goes out to compete every game and whoever plays with Argentina has a special seasoning. It is a powerful selection. It hasn’t changed, it doesn’t change that we won. Our way of approaching games is always the same, with respect for the opponent and knowing what we want. The way of preparing it has not changed.”
This process, which has the Copa América, the Olympic Games and the qualifiers ahead, loads the calendar of the national team’s technical staff, which is why new pieces are added to the selection process. That is why Scaloni commented: “We need those behind to push and these guys have the conditions, the desire. They have shown that they can contribute their things. We are happy. We have Valentini and Barco, also Buonanotte and Carboni, who were already there. We are happy to have them. Everyone needs to know that the national team is for everyone and because they have won there is an equal place for others. They can contribute their things and we hope to give them their chance. It helped us to see them, to chat and have small meetings. “They are interesting players.”.
He also referred to how Nicolás Otamendi and Ángel Di María are experiencing this reunion with the squad. The two players are the most experienced of the group and would be experiencing their last games with the national team, especially the player from Rosario, who has already announced that after the Copa América he will end his career with the national team’s shirt. In reference to them, Scaloni said: “I see Otamendi and Di María happy, because they want to be there, to meet again. They spent a long time without being together, without sharing meals or clothing. It’s a long time and when you get together, the happiness of being able to be together is the most important thing. I see them doing well in terms of football, they are going through a good moment. We hope to see you in these games. We want to see everyone. They are two games that will help us for what is to come. Coexistence is very healthy.”