By Gura Garcia
Jun 20, 2024, 3:56 PM EDT
There are only a few hours left until the curtain raising of the Copa América 2024 which will be held in the United States, and the opening match will be between the most recent world champion, Argentina, against the Canadian team, in a duel that will take place at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium facilities in the city of Atlanta.
Lionel Scaloni, technical director of the Albiceleste team, spoke publicly a day before of the championship before the media to give a little more information about the team that was crowned in Qatar 2022 and that seeks to repeat the continental championship that it won in Brazil in 2021.
They don’t underestimate Canada at all
“We will find out for the team today afternoon. I’ll tell my players first. He plays what he has to play, beyond everything. We see based on the rival and thus we choose the best possible team.” The only advance that the technical director offered was related to midfielder Leandro Paredes, who accompanied him at the press conference: “He is sitting here for a reason.” He meant that number 5 will start this Thursday night. For the technical director, “it is difficult to choose 11 when you have 26 in total.” “Everyone deserves to be starters. It’s not easy to be the one who doesn’t play,” said ‘El gringo’.
He considered Canada “a difficult, complicated rival.” And he also added: “We are fine, with clear ideas, knowing the difficulty of this tournament. It’s going to be a good challenge.” Paredes, Paulo Dybala’s teammate in Rome (world champion but not called up for this continental championship on American soil), was non-specific in the analysis: “Any rival is the same. We try to play each game our way and get results. Every rival has his good side and bad side to him. We try to take advantage of that.”
Are you worried about the grass for the game?
Scaloni also had words about the layout of the playing field where they will debut tonight, from the stadium where teams like the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL and Atlanta United FC of the MLS usually play: “I didn’t step on it; I saw it from outside. They say it will get better. They changed it yesterday. It’s synthetic. I hope he’s okay, for the good of football.”
The approach that Argentina will present to Canada is something that intrigues many, and the coach wanted to talk a little about it: “A lot of things can happen that you didn’t think about. Things can change. The difficulty of France, Brazil and Canada may or may not be the same. “Everything will be based on what we do.” Along these lines, Scaloni commented that he does not have any type of “doubts about the team” and stressed that “the captain is fine,” referring to the current Inter Miami player of Major League Soccer, Lionel Messi.
Lionel Scaloni’s word at the press conference
“We are with the same desire as always. Like it was the first time. We count with renewed ideas and strength. We want to give people what people want to see, which is these guys play. Being Argentina, the mentality is the same as always. It does not change. What lasts is the feeling of anxiety and nervousness. It’s our way of dealing with these things. We don’t know any other. “This is how it will be,” she said.
The ‘Last Dance’ for Messi and Di María
At the end of the conference, the Santa Fe coach did not avoid making a simple comment about the future of key players in the entire process experienced and currently experienced by the Albiceleste team, such as Lionel Messi and Ángel Di María, who will face their last championship as teammates. “It makes no sense to think now when Messi and Di María will leave. Let us enjoy them now,” he warned.
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