Lionel Scaloni admitted on Friday that the Argentina national team had been dealt a hard blow by defeat to Saudi Arabia in the first round of Group C of the 2002 World Cup, but warned that it is now “time for the team to to stand”. This is how the Argentinian coach sees Saturday’s decisive game against Mexico, in which a defeat will mean the end of a competition where he arrived as one of the favorites to win the title.
“We took a blow, but we are going to face this game like the others we played before the game with Saudi Arabia,” Scaloni guaranteed, guaranteeing that his players “will leave everything on the field until the last minute to avoid this situation to turn “. , recalling that “there is a country” with the team. Therefore “we have to show that the selection is going well”.
On the day Diego Maradona passed away two years ago, the Argentina coach expressed his wish to honor him with a victory: “We hope to toast him tomorrow. [este sábado] with joy as he looks down on us from heaven. It seems like a lie that he is no longer with us. Today is a sad day for the Argentines, but we will do everything we can to make tomorrow a happier day.”
Another topic raised during the preview press conference was Lionel Messi’s physical condition, as news broke that the striker had not trained. The Argentina coach denied this, guaranteeing that “he is fine”. “We have no doubt that Leo is doing well psychologically and physically. There is no problem. And he is aware that the cards are on the table and that we remain solely dependent on us,” he underlined.
However, Scaloni admitted to making some changes to the lineup that Mexico (7pm, TVI and SportTV) will face, but chose not to reveal which ones they will be. The coach acknowledged that his players were a bit nervous in the first game, something he thought was normal, and explained why: “With all due respect to the other teams, it’s not the same as making your World Cup debut wearing Argentina’s shirt .”
It should be noted that the Argentina national team has only been excluded from a World Cup group stage three times, in 1958, 1962 and 2002.
Source: DN
