Lionel Scaloni Leads Argentina to Fourth Final: All You Need to Know About Copa América

Lionel Scaloni will face his fourth final as coach of the Argentine national team (REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian) Follow all the information and results of the Copa América from here

The Copa America final has its first representative: Argentina. The current champion is making steady progress in seeking to defend its crown after beating Canada 2-0 with goals from Julián Álvarez and Lionel Messi at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey and coach Lionel Scaloni analyzed the result at a press conference.

The 46-year-old coach praised his qualification for Sunday’s final at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami: “It’s something to be proud of and thank the players because yesterday they asked me if we’re going to normalize. I thought it was a good question, but maybe I wasn’t clear in the answer. It’s very difficult to get to another final, especially because of how we’ve come, with all the praise and success, and that costs twice as much. Those of us who are inside know how hard it is to get there. It’s a feeling of happiness, but also of concern because everything costs a lot more and the bar is very high. Everyone thought it was going to be a bed of roses, very easy, and today Canada has shown that it’s not easy. It’s something to be satisfied with.”

Later, he opened the door to Ángel Di María continuing with the Albiceleste, but tried to calm the mood around Fideo, who announced that this tournament would mark his farewell to the national team: “You know what I think. I am in favour of waiting and letting him continue playing, not removing him from the national team before. If not, the tears will start and he will become melancholic. We have to let him play, then we will see if we can convince him or not, but in the meantime he has to be here and enjoy the moment.”

Later, he was asked about the winger’s situation: “We won’t be the ones to close the door on him, on the contrary. He can be with us as long as he wants, even when he retires, if he wants to be with us, that’s fine too. If I’m somewhere else, I’ll take him if he wants. For me, it would be helpful, but he’ll decide.”

Scaloni’s greeting to Di María when Fideo left the field (REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian)

On the other hand, he was asked by a journalist about the possibility of achieving a record never seen before in South America, such as winning the World Cup and the Copa América before and after the World Cup: “I am not interested, I am not interested in statistics. Like when we lost against Saudi Arabia and we had an unbeaten record of I don’t know how many games. I was angry about the defeat, not about the unbeaten record. We focused on wanting to win the final, not on the statistics saying that we could have won the finals.”

In this sense, he pointed out the importance of approaching the last match with the utmost seriousness: “The key is to erase what happened. In the end, I am not a fan of statistics. It is over, we have to move on. They play to compete from a young age. You cannot tell them ‘we won and we don’t compete anymore’, it goes against what they want.”

Speaking to reporters, Scaloni said he is focused on the present: “I am not thinking 10 years ahead. I am thinking now, what is coming, and what the Qualifiers will be like. I would like to continue on this path afterwards.”

MORE STATEMENTS BY LIONEL SCALONI

Preparation for the final: “We are going to enjoy this match and think that it is going to be difficult. We are one step away from trying to win the Cup. We are going step by step, calmly. We have a few days left to rest. We are in a privileged situation because we have one more day of rest, but we are there physically and we will use everything to recover everyone and play a great game on Sunday.”

Copa America 2024 – Argentina vs Canada – Match summary

Do the people want Argentina to win the championship because of Scaloni? “It’s too much, no. It would be a mistake. I’ve always said it, I still stand by it. As you can see here, I’m happy because we gave the people something to be happy about, but I’m just a coach. If I were a fan, I’d be happy for Argentina, not for the coach. I’m happy because the people are happy.”

Possible rivals in the final: “Colombia and Uruguay are top rivals, among the best at national team level. We will watch the match, but it would be reckless if I say that I prefer one or the other because one of them has already beaten us and made things very difficult for us, and Colombia is also difficult.”

The level of the Argentine team: “Honestly, the team has done good things in all the games. I have never said that I was unhappy with the team, I don’t know who said it, but it is impossible to be unhappy with these guys. They try to do things well, football is about trying, even if things don’t work out for you; the problem is when you don’t try. Therefore, I couldn’t say which was the best game, but we were up to par in all of them.”

The communion of the public with the players: “More than getting people used to reaching the final, people got used to the fact that this team identifies with them, that is different. Beyond playing well or badly, winning or not, people identify with the team. Then, we try to make the team always play well and sometimes it is not possible.”

The differences between the 2021 Copa América champion and the current squad: “We are more of a team, back then we were still consolidating an idea. The team knows what it wants now, and at that time we were still searching for an identity. Today, we are a much more real version.”

2024-07-10 04:43:00
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