Lastnight closed the FIFA date with the friendly match between Argentina and Mexico in Mendoza, for second time in a week. The match ended 2-0 in favor of the locals and as a remarkable aspect is the first goal by Mauro Icardi and Paulo Dybala with the Albiceleste.
This match also ends the atypical interim of Lionel Scaloni at the head of the Argentine National Team. In a somewhat strange move, AFA decided that after the dismissal of Jorge Sampaoli, Scaloni would be in charge during the FIFA dates remaining in the year, which covered the last three months.
The original idea was that this stage of Scaloni was a simple interim while it managed to finalize the hiring of a new coach to start a project refounder of Argentine football after the disaster that meant Russia 2018.
AFA handled several options, to the point that even Guardiola came to be mentioned. Time passed and after Pochettino's denials, "Tata" Martino, Gallardo and Barros Schelotto, the AFA is in the same position they were in 3 months ago: aimless, without project and without a coach. Well, at least that seemed.
It turns out that in the course of these friendly matches, an unthinkable figure has been taking more and more weight and is none other than the same Lionel Scaloni, who at the moment is presented as the most viable and logical option to take command, now definitively, of this Argentine team.
I know that the first thing that comes to mind is that Scaloni is a coach without any previous experience in directing and this is true. However, seeing the performance of the National Team under his command these last months I have found several positive aspects that indicate that the future of this team can be promising.
The Argentina that I have seen in these friendlies is very different from the one I saw in the World Cup in Russia and that is good, because this team needed a total turnaround, that things were done in a totally different way, a renewal. And in front of this accidental renovation has been Scaloni. Only from the environment is the difference perceived, we see that the players are happy, cheerful and that they really have a good relationship with their coach. It seems that his experience as a former player and knowing what it feels like to step on a court and defend the shirt of your country has served Scaloni a lot to put together a good group.
But leaving aside this type of subjective things, since football has seen the hand of Scaloni. As I mentioned before, Argentina needed a renewal. A successful generation, but tired, needed to give way to new blood. And the withdrawal (provisional or not) of leaders such as Messi, Mascherano, Higuaín, Biglia, Agüero, Banega, Di María; It has been a complete blessing for this initial period of Scaloni as it has allowed him to test with total freedom a new range of players who are hungry and thirsty for glory with the albiceleste. There is no doubt that all these great players have an undeniable specific weight in the field, but it is also true that the so-called "club of friends" also exerted a powerful influence on the decisions that were made and were becoming a cancer for the National Team.
After the elimination of Argentina at the hands of France in the World Cup, commented that it seemed inconceivable to me that a country so rich football was unable to produce in the last 10 years a right back, a center back and a decent defensive midfielder to play in the National Team. Today I realize that it is not that they did not have that kind of players, but that they were hidden or rather, they were not looking for them. Because one of the most outstanding things about these games in Argentina with Scaloni is the irruption of many young players who have given the stature and who cry out to keep receiving calls.
Perhaps the most remarkable is the appearance of Renzo Saravia, who is not only the best right-back of the Argentine Super League, but also seems to have consolidated himself as the holder of the position in the National Team after his remarkable performances with Scaloni. And if we keep talking we should mention Leandro Paredes, Mauro Icardi, Juan Foyth; all players that today seem to have earned their place in this team. The great merit of Scaloni is to have broadened the spectrum of players that can be summoned, showing that what is left of this Argentina is talent.
This is really a win-win situation for Scaloni, he knew that this interim (although he assumed it without being guaranteed anything) was the opportunity of his life and he has made the most of it. He is calm knowing that if they do not give him the post and his successor fails, the culprit will be AFA for not trusting him; and if they end up ratifying it and their cycle in the National Team also results in failure, again the culprit will be AFA for putting an inexperienced coach at the head of the National Team. Although at this point and seeing how Argentina has played in recent months, who kicks out Scaloni?
I'm almost certain that Scaloni will be confirmed as an official coach and I have a feeling that things will go well for him. Sure, now it would present a greater challenge, because while Messi is still Messi, and Agüero and Di María continue to have remarkable performances in Europe, you can not stop calling them. However, I hope you keep the young base with which you have worked so far and keep testing players, because the real objective is to build a sustainable project with a view to Qatar 2022. The Copa América 2019 will be the thermometer that will tell us if this new generation Argentina is heading for success; or if it was only a year lost and you will have to restart this process again in search of who returns Argentina to the glory of yesteryear.
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