Lionel Scaloni, coach of the Argentine National Team, explained today that Rodrigo De Paul -in doubt due to a muscle injury- and Ángel Di María “are fine”, and although he did not confirm the formation that will face the Netherlands, he assured that his team will ” leave everything”.
“We live it with the peace of mind that this team is going to leave everything. This is a team that has always shown its face. People feel valued and identified with these players. We are going to leave everything, whoever plays,” he said.
#MajorSelection @lioscaloni in conference ?️ : “In principle, Rodrigo de Paul is fine. We’ll see in today’s training how we form the team.”
— Argentina National Team ?? (@Argentina) December 8, 2022
“De Paul and Di María, in principle, are fine. I can’t say if they are going to play or not. It’s strange that they know something is wrong with Rodrigo, for example, because the training was behind closed doors. I don’t know where the information comes from “, he explained.
“De Paul and Fideo trained yesterday. But there is still a day and a training session to see the team. Today we have the last training session and we will see how everyone is doing. We will make the decision based on how we want to plan the game and those who are going to play are here to play”, Scaloni clarified in the press conference prior to the match this Friday against the Netherlands for the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Qatar, at the Lusail Stadium with capacity for 88,966 spectators.
#MajorSelection @lioscaloni in conference ?️ : “De Paul and Fideo (Di María) trained yesterday. But there is still a day and a training session to see the team”.
— Argentina National Team ?? (@Argentina) December 8, 2022
“Those who go out to play have to be 100%,” clarified the 44-year-old coach from Santa Fe. “Always after training the players stay kicking penalties. But when you go to kick on game day, the goal is a matchbox,” he added.
“Any of the eight teams that are still in the race did merit to reach the final. Tomorrow’s game will be nice to watch, they are two teams that always propose to attack,” he considered.
#MajorSelection @lioscaloni in conference ?️: “Today is a sad day for the two years since Sabella’s death. For who she was and for everything she gave us. We send a big hug to all her family.”
— Argentina National Team ?? (@Argentina) December 8, 2022
The coach also remembered Alejandro Sabella, two years after his death. “Today is a sad day for the two years since Sabella’s death. For who he was and for everything he gave us. We send a big hug to all his family,” said Scaloni.
De Paul, meanwhile, was the concern on Wednesday since he began practice, behind closed doors, but then did different jobs due to hamstring discomfort.
Faced with rumors about a tear that would leave him out of Friday’s game and, if he progressed, from the rest of the World Cup, the “Motor” of the selected team expressed itself through its official Instagram account.
“Everything is fine,” De Paul wrote in a message along with photos of himself from training on Wednesday to tone down the situation.
However, in tactical work, the Atlético de Madrid player was not there and was replaced by Leandro Paredes.
In addition, Scaloni tried again with Gonzalo Montiel and Nicolás Tagliafico as wingers and Di María was among the possible starters.
Waiting for the last practice that will start at 13, the probable formation of Argentina would be with Emiliano Martínez; Montiel, Cristian Romero, Nicolás Otamendi and Tagliafico; Mac Allister, Paredes and Enzo Fernández; Ángel Di María, Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez.
Friday’s match against the Netherlands for the quarterfinals will be played from 4:00 p.m. (22 in Qatar) at the Lusail stadium with Spanish Mateu Lahoz refereeing.
