Lionel Scaloni dreams of playing another final as coach of Argentina He is on his way to that long-awaited match. Now he is going for the penultimate obstacle, for the semi-final barrier of the America Cupin view of Canadathe rival he will face at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey at two in the morning on Wednesday in Spain. As always, the coach who is the champion of America and the World appeared calm.
In this scenario, Scaloni found space to get out of the semi-final between Argentina and Canada and to get into a thorny comparison between the Copa America and the Euro Cup. Which national team competition is more complicated? Is it worth drawing a parallel? He answered without hesitation: “The level is very even. I would like to see some European team invited to a Copa America to see what it is like to play here and also the opposite… The difficulty is the same.”
That reflection came after the topic he was most questioned about: Lionel Messi and his physical condition, after overcoming the injury to his right adductor that kept him out of the match against Peru and that noticeably limited him in the quarterfinals against Ecuador. How is the number 10? Scaloni responded: “99% of the time he is ready to play. It has never happened to me that he is not ready to play. Every time he has gone out on the field, he is ready to play. For tomorrow he is ready to play, without a doubt.”
Messi, who has trained with the rest of the team in recent days, is in condition to play
Scaloni does not find it difficult to decide whether Messi plays or not: “It is a very easy decision, because it is a very frank decision. If he is fit, he plays; and if he is not fit, he plays the last 30 minutes. It is that easy.” The coach was pressed on the matter. And he returned: “When he is fit, he always plays. There is no doubt. I am the one who decides and when I see that he is fit to play, even if he is not 100 percent, he will play. I take responsibility.”
Scaloni insists: “That will never weigh on me. I know what Messi can give us even if he is not in optimal condition. I would not make the serious mistake of not playing him knowing that he gives us a lot.”
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Of course, there was room for Scaloni to reflect on his semi-final rival: “I don’t know what team Canada will put out, but beyond their strengths we will try to hurt them with the eleven we choose. Canada has an aggressive way of playing, but in a good way. They force you to be physical. We will try to take the game to our game.” And he acknowledged: “I imagine that both teams will take note of the last game. It is true that they had a high defense and I think they continued to do so, so it may be an option to exploit that even more. We will see how everything goes.”
