Nahuel Lanzillotta
07/26/2020 - 17:17
- Clarín.com
- sports
There will be 325 days that will have elapsed between the last presentation of the Selection and the start of the Qualifying rounds, rescheduled for October 8. Almost eleven months without action and without being reunited will reach the National team, as long as the dates do not undergo a new modification. For this reason, Lionel Scaloni and his coaching staff intend to make some friendly preparation before the official debut on the way to Qatar 2022, and the possibility that it was against Brazil slipped. Something that seems like an impossible mission due to a context that is still governed by uncertainty.
On November 18 of last year, with a 2-2 draw against Uruguay in Israel, the light-blue team closed a year of growth after having completed a good Copa América with the third place achieved against Chile in São Paulo. The faces of Lionel Messi and company were never seen again. And, although each one returned to the ring at his club -except for those who play in the local league-, Scaloni considers it important to have his boys together again before the premiere with Ecuador in La Bombonera and the second meeting, with Bolivia in peace.
The last photo of Messi with the Argentina National Team: on November 18 he played against Uruguay in Tel Aviv. Photo: AP
From his home in Mallorca, the coach grabbed the calendar and began to score. Although he was the first to point out in March that everything should stop due to the advance of the virus and continues to put health above it, the outlook was improving in Europe and football returned a while ago. And FIFA for now maintains October as the start date of the Qualifiers . Finding at least the way to play a friendly match is what you think would be ideal to avoid arriving without group filming, both on and off the court.
The contacts between the DT and his usual regulars were not cut by the pandemic . Chatting on WhatsApp and zoom became common. The medical staff was also - is - attentive to the monitoring of each of them. But nothing supplants having them all together on the field.
There, the leagues of each country are already ending, and the Champions League final will be on August 23. So a possible window could be September . However, in one way or another it is very complicated to carry out.
There are many logistical and economic factors that influence the organization of an international friendly and that appear as barriers in this situation. Because, even if only footballers are summoned to work in the Old Continent, a delegation with the rest of the technical staff, collaborators, doctors, kinesiologists, masseurs, props, security ... should leave from Argentina.
Brazil is in an even more serious situation, so the idea of completing a classic of such magnitude in a little over a month seems far away, with all that this implies. In addition, the issue of whether or not the audience is somewhat minor in these cases.
Of course it is tempting to see Messi and his friend Neymar face to face again, but, as Clarín could find out , that is not close to happening in the short term. From the AFA they assured this media that for the moment "it did not go beyond informal talks" and ruled out the possibility of playing with Brazil. And another rival? Nothing in sight for these hours.
Times don't matter and Scaloni's idea remains simply like that: something that would be very good to do, but that given the circumstances is an impossible mission. More likely is that the coach can have the team a few days before the double knockout date to oil the gears of a team that seeks to continue taking steps forward.
FK