Lionel Scaloni marks 7 years in charge of the Argentina national team | OneFootball

On September 7, 2018, just over two months after the elimination suffered against France in the Round of 16 of the 2018 Russia World Cup, the process of Lionel Scaloni leading the Argentine National Team began in a friendly against Guatemala at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California.

At that time, it was merely a cycle that would serve the AFA as a transition to move past the era of Jorge Sampaoli and pave the way for a coach with experience to tackle the South American Conmebol Qualifiers leading to Qatar 2022 and the Copa América in Brazil 2019, which was already on the horizon.

For this commitment against the Central American team, Leo Scaloni opted for the following lineup: Gerónimo Rulli; Renzo Saravia, Germán Pezzella, Ramiro Funes Mori, and Nicolás Tagliafico; Exequiel Palacios, Leandro Paredes, and Giovani Lo Celso; Cristian Pavón, Giovanni Simeone, and Gonzalo Martínez.

It was 3-0 in favor of the albiceleste team with goals from Pity Martínez from a penalty, Gio Lo Celso, and Gio Simeone, all in the first half. Incidentally, in the second half, the following players came on: Santiago Ascacibar, Walter Kannemann, Franco Cervi, Franco Vázquez, Matías Vargas, and Alan Franco.

Furthermore, it is worth remembering that three days later, at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, they faced Colombia (0-0), a match for which Scaloni lined up: Franco Armani; Fabricio Bustos, Germán Pezzella, Ramiro Funes Mori, and Nicolás Tagliafico; Rodrigo Battaglia, Exequiel Palacios, Giovani Lo Celso, Gonzalo “Pity” Martínez, and Maximiliano Meza, with Mauro Icardi up front.

Lionel Scaloni acknowledged he was working for whoever the next coach would be

In the context of his debut as the strategist of the senior Argentine National Team, it was clearly an interim position. In fact, before the friendly match with Guatemala, he clarified that his work was aimed at starting a process that would be continued by the coach appointed by the Argentine Football Association authorities.

“We come with new people, we had two training sessions. Our objective is to win, but without forgetting what we came to achieve, which is for these guys to wear the jersey, to show that they can play for the National Team. The result is important, but the most important thing is that they feel part of this new stage and that the future coach can count on many of them,” commented the coach from Pujato in a press conference. The rest is history.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.