“We’re going to wait until the last minute,” said Lionel Scaloni regarding the presence of Lionel Messi to face Ecuador on Thursday night, and he gave a lot of importance to the training session after the press conference he gave on Wednesday with Alexis Mac Allister.
“We’re going to wait a while. We train in three hours and having one more day is better. Yesterday (Tuesday) he trained with everyone, with good feelings and, depending on the training, we will decide,” said the coach, who added that he would speak with Messi himself before training and then they will decide what to do together (“we will decide later”).
One of the main concerns of those present was the possibility of seeing Lautaro Martínez -top scorer of the Cup- and Julián Álvarez together in attack in Houston. “It could be that they play together, they have already played together against this rival (a friendly match prior to the Cup). They have worked well and it is an option. We have to see how everyone is,” answered the coach.
“Leo has played with Julián or Lautaro… What is disturbing is that Leo doesn’t play, that’s the reality. We will try to get him to play and if he isn’t, we will try to do what is best for the team. Lautaro and Julián are in good form. Both were able to score. Hopefully they will continue this streak. We are very satisfied with the contribution of both of them,” he added.
As for the rival, Scaloni said: “It is a very well-trained team, with good players, a good coach. Before the Cup began, I said that I had a real chance of being able to fight for it and I still think the same.”
It is worth remembering that Scaloni missed the match against Peru, having to watch it from the sidelines due to a suspension and Walter Samuel was in charge on the pitch. “It is logical that everyone likes to be as close to the players as possible, it is a strange situation. It has not happened to me alone in this Cup, we will try to prevent it from happening again,” he commented on the matter.
Finally, as the draw between Colombia and Brazil on Tuesday meant that all the group leaders have Argentine coaches (Bielsa, Lorenzo and Batista being the others), Scaloni said: “South American teams pay a lot of attention to Argentine coaches and that’s good. I know them and they are good people, I’m glad they’re doing well. It marks a good trend.”
Mac Allister was next to the coach, who had just rested against Peru after playing the full 90 minutes against Canada and Chile. “We know that things are different in a match against Peru, but we are focused. The group looks calm. We try to approach all the matches in the same way, with the same mentality. We always go out to win,” said the former Argentinos Juniors player.
“The most important thing is to help the team, wherever that may be. Sometimes I have to be more defensive, other times more offensive, I like to be there and help. As long as I’m on the pitch, I’m welcome,” he added.
2024-07-04 03:01:00
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