Nearly a month after Argentina won the world championship, WC-winning coach Lionel Scaloni reflected on the tournament. The much-discussed quarterfinal matchup with the Dutch and the function of referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz were among the topics covered.
On Tuesday night, Scaloni joined the radio show El Partidazo de COPE, which paid him a visit in Mallorca. The World Cup victory has had a significant impact on his way of life. He is now widely renowned. “After the World Cup, I had hoped that my life would be more tranquil, but I find it difficult to navigate the streets now.” It cannot be compared to my playing career’s finest points, the manager said.
He hasn’t yet reflected on Argentina’s triumph over France in the championship game, though. ” I’ve been thinking about the game. Up to the eighty-minute mark, the game was already great, but after that, it was truly something else,” Scaloni recalls. “We should have decided the game sooner, I suppose. The last save by Martinez was very important for us.”
Louis van Gaal’s assertion
Martinez also had a significant impact on the quarterfinal matchup with the Dutch by saving Virgil van Dijk’s and Steven Berghuis’ opening two penalties. “The game against the Netherlands was played the right way to play football. When Messi is not on the ball, according to their coach, we play with one fewer guy. The best player in the world will only suffer if you provoke them,” he continues.
Scaloni rejects Louis van Gaal’s assertion that the Argentine superstar’s off-ball behaviour was his main point. “I don’t find it difficult at all to train him,” he says admiringly. ” You cannot instruct him in any technical matters. But I can promise you that he is the best at pressuring and winning the ball as well. He is the best at smelling blood if there is any.”
Additionally, Scaloni disagrees with the criticism levelled at goalie Martinez for his actions during the penalty shootout after mocking Kylian Mbappé in the World Cup final. “Those are merely the attitudes he takes on. He’s a lovely kid, and he still is one. You ought to get together with him. He was among the finds that brought us great joy,” Scaloni said.
