Lionel Scaloni, the coach of the world champion Argentine team, joined other local soccer leaders this Wednesday in criticizing the debut as a soccer player of the streamer Spreen in the Riestra club of the first division of the South American country.
“The ethics committee is going to work on that and I imagine it is going to be something exemplary. For the good of football this does not have to happen again,” he said at a press conference prior to Thursday’s match against Paraguay in Asunción. the South American qualifier for the 2026 World Cup.
On Monday, the Riestra club presented among its starters Iván Buhajeruk, a 24-year-old streamer known as Spreen, to play with the leader Vélez for matchday 22 of the Argentine Professional League.
Spreen, who never played soccer professionally nor trained in lower divisions, remained on the field for a minute before being replaced, without touching the ball and leaving his team with one change less in the match that ended 1-1.
The event generated a wave of condemnation from Argentine football leaders, who were joined by the players of the Argentine team that won in Qatar 2022, Rodrigo De Paul and Leandro Paredes.
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“I do not agree with what happened,” said De Paul: “All of us who are on this side to wear the National Team shirt cost us a lot, no one gave us anything,” he said.
For his part, Paredes said that “this type of thing is annoying, and annoying because it is not nice to give these types of messages.”
The president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Claudio Tapia, also referred to the issue. “When there are things we don’t like, we have to correct them,” he said.
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“I know that the club (Riestra) worked on a statement to apologize. It was a lack of respect for football and a wrong message for society,” Tapia said.
Riestra acknowledged in a statement on Tuesday that “this marketing action generated many negative opinions” and assured that they had no intention of “disrespecting Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield or Argentine football in general.”
The AFA opened a file for the ethics court to investigate the case and determine whether Riestra engaged in “conduct likely to harm the reputation and integrity of Argentine football.”
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Scaloni also referred in conference to Thursday’s match against Paraguay and predicted that it will be “difficult” against the Albirroja led by Gustavo Alfaro.
“It’s going to be a very difficult game, because the opponent is in a good moment, they are confident. All these games are important,” the coach assessed before the trip to the Paraguayan capital.
“I have almost decided on the team, which will be very similar to the one in the last game. I have a doubt, but it is very similar to the one that played against Bolivia,” Scaloni added about the possible formation of the Albiceleste, which last time beat 6-0 those of the Altiplano.
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In Asunción, Paraguay supporters were prohibited from attending the game wearing Lionel Messi t-shirts.
“It’s logical that the Paraguayan fan wears his team’s shirt, but Messi’s thing is sometimes stronger. It’s good that football people recognize Messi, and just because someone has his shirt doesn’t mean they don’t support Paraguay.” , Scaloni noted.
The host also referred to the elimination of Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami in the MLS playoffs, which will leave the national team star without playing for several months.
This situation “does not affect the national team, because we play now and then nothing until March. It is a rest issue that does not change anything for us,” he said in this regard.
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