(Buenos Aires) Argentina’s world champion coach Lionel Scaloni said on Tuesday that his captain Lionel Messi, back home for two friendlies, would continue in the national team “until he says otherwise”.
“Messi will keep coming until he says otherwise. I see him happy on a field and within the selection, “said Scaloni of his 35-year-old striker and 172 caps, two days before a match against Panama in Buenos Aires, the Albiceleste’s first appearance since his title in Qatar.
Scaloni, who has been extended in his position until 2026, has assigned his group “the objective of continuing to play at the same level. We can win, we can lose, but let’s be hard to beat […] Now it’s going to be harder than ever, because everyone is going to want to beat us.”
He also warned his titled players against any temptation of comfort, assuring that “a new process is beginning”, that “it is the pitch that speaks”, and that “no one will have an advantage for having been champion of the world “. “Young people are breaking through and we think they will be able to play at a very high level,” he warned.
Among these young shooters, striker Garnacho (Manchester United, ENG) had to give up his call-up for this week due to injury, but the future will be represented in particular by midfielder Facundo Buonanotte, (Brighton, ENG) or defender Lautaro Blanco (Elche, ESP, on loan to Rosario, ARG). All three are 18 years old.
The two friendly matches to come, against the modest Panama on Thursday then (the Caribbean island of) Curaçao on March 28, will be above all for the Albiceleste the opportunity to celebrate the title in front of their supporters.
And while Scaloni said he was “happy that the players can feel this joy that they have given people”, he also warned that there is “work to be done”, and that “we cannot do which sings to us because we are world champions”.
“Wearing the Argentine shirt does not tolerate giving anything other than the maximum,” he insisted.
Pressed by journalists to decide on “the best Argentine team in history”, a true-false debate in Argentina since the title in Qatar, between the champions of 1978, those of 1986 with Maradona, or his 2022 ( also winners of the 2021 Copa America), Scaloni quietly tapped into the sidelines, with his usual modesty.
“That’s nonsense. I don’t care what the best selection is. All three are good. All three are world champions.”