Scaloni on Ecuador loss: "Good side, they made it tough for us" | OneFootball

The coach of the Argentina National Team explained the defeat by acknowledging the merits of the opponent, admitted that the team struggled at times, and regretted not being able to complete his planned testing: “Because of the sending off, we were left wanting to see other guys.”

The coach of the Argentina National Team, Lionel Scaloni, spoke this Tuesday after the 1-0 loss in Guayaquil against Ecuador and analyzed the match based on the merits of the winner, under the premise that it’s impossible to always win. “We are, fortunately, constantly used to winning and sometimes it’s just not your turn,” he downplayed the drama of what happened on the field, where he also delved into the development of the game.

“When the opponent plays, sometimes you have to suffer. We suffered at times, especially when we were down to 10 men. It was tough, but we were always in the game,” he emphasized, and then added: “With the fear that, when we came out for the second half, we might get a sending off, the match became a bit distorted and we couldn’t finish or create goal-scoring chances, but it’s always positive because the team tries, faces up, in its own way, playing. The second half was ours even though we could have done more, so we keep going.”

“It’s difficult to analyze because after the sending off, the match was different, until that moment Ecuador played a good game, they’re a great team and if they play like today, they’ll bring joy to their people,” he said, and revealed that Nicolás Otamendi’s red card frustrated his plans: “We were left wanting to see other guys but now we have other matches ahead.” At another point, he praised his colleague Sebastián Beccacece, with whom he worked on Jorge Sampaoli’s coaching staff at Russia 2018: “Sebastián is doing very well so I have to congratulate him.”

Regarding Otamendi’s red card, the coach said that he won’t be available for the World Cup opener, although there is still uncertainty about whether the Finalissima against Spain will be played in March, where he could serve the suspension. “It’s a shame for Ota, we knew the risk of playing this match with the sending off and not playing the first match of the World Cup,” he stated.

On who wore Lionel Messi’s shirt, Scaloni explained: “The number 10 was going to be worn by Thiago Almada but he couldn’t be part of the squad and we gave it to Franco (Mastantuono), we preferred not to risk him. He came on well, has personality, likes to play with the ball, receives it, but he came on at a rather low point in the match and there was no space. He’s getting more minutes with this team.”

“Messi was coming off an injury. We decided not to risk him but I haven’t spoken to him again,” he said about the star’s absence and didn’t want to talk about World Cup favorites: “Making predictions about who will win is very difficult, but I can say that there are very good teams that will make it very difficult for their opponents.”

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