The mystery is over. Just over two months after being the manager of the team that conquered Qatar in 2022 and gave Argentina its third star, Lionel Scaloni was confirmed this Monday by the AFA as coach of the football team until the 2026 World Cup to be held in the United States , Mexico and Canada.
This was made official by the Argentine Football Federation via a publication on the Argentina national team’s Twitter account hours after the FIFA The Best awards ceremony begins in Paris, France, where Lionel Messi, Emiliano Dibu Martínez and Scaloni himself join the shortlists for the figurines for the best of the season.
The official statement was endorsed by Claudio Chiqui Tapia, president of the AFA, who posted a message on Twitter a few minutes later showing the privacy of the meeting he had with Scaloni in the French capital to close the deal.
“When confidence is high, communication is easy and effective. We continue to strengthen the national team project, together with Lionel Scaloni, the world champion coach,” Tapia wrote on his personal account.
As Clarín could discover, the agreement between the top leader of Argentine football and the coach was immediate. It was enough to see their faces, cross a few words and shake hands to cement the agreement they had reached days before.
In this way, the Scaloni cycle, which had begun in 2018 with an interim period after the departure of Jorge Sampaoli, whom he accompanied as part of the coaching staff at the World Cup in Russia, will last eight years.
In principle, it will have a similar duration to the other two cycles of César Luis Menotti and Carlos Salvador Bilardo, the other two world DT champions. Although the 20 years that Guillermo Stábile led the national team between 1941 and 1961 will certainly not be long.
Scaloni, 44, took over as coach of the Argentina national team in September 2018. After finishing third in the 2019 Copa América Brasil, the Pujato native was confirmed in office and led the team in the South American qualifiers.
In 2021, Scaloni won the Copa América, again held in Brazil, after beating Brazil 1–0 in the final at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
The DT who managed to end the streak of 28 years without titles in the senior team also led the team to a historic unbeaten record of 36 games and won the Finalissima against Italy (3-0) in June 2022 with authority and brilliant football . Cup in Qatar, Scaloni led the team led by Lionel Messi to the third star of the Albiceleste after 36 years.
Scaloni will remain accompanied by his field assistants Pablo Aimar and Walter Samuel, the physical trainer Luis Martín, the goalkeeper coach Martín Tocalli and the video analyst Matías Manna.
Damián Albil, who chose to go to Independiente, seduced by the new management, and the substitute physical trainer Rodrigo Barrios, who decided to join Esteban Solari, a former employee of the Under 20 Team, on his adventure as a DT in Johor Darul Takzim from Malaysia. It is not yet known how these vacancies will be filled.
the first games
The representatives of Panama and Curaçao, both members of Concacaf, appear to be the rivals of the Argentina world champion team on the FIFA date of March next year.
In the absence of official confirmation from AFA, sources close to Argentina’s football organizational structure said friendlies will be played on Thursday, March 23 and Tuesday, March 28.
In principle, the team led by Lionel Scaloni will host the Panamanian team at the River Plate stadium on Thursday, 23rd. This match against a cast ranked 61 by FIFA in the world was originally scheduled to be played on Friday the 24th.
But the series of marches and commemorations for the National Day of Remembrance, Truth and Justice led to the first contact of the Argentine public with the selected ecumenical champion from Albiceleste being brought forward 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the friendly confrontation with Curaçao is scheduled for Tuesday the 28th. The setting has not yet been determined, but two venues are available to host the Albiceleste team’s match: the Mario Kempes Stadium in Córdoba or the Madre de Ciudades Stadium in Santiago del Estero.
Scaloni’s path in the Argentina national team
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