Nahuel Lanzillotta
09/20/2020 - 19:22
Clarín.com
sports
There is little left for Lionel Messi to arrive in Argentina and once again be the captain of the National Team at the start of the Qualifiers for the World Cup in Qatar 2022, ratified by FIFA and Conmebol, on October 8 against Ecuador in La Bombonera and the 13 against Bolivia in La Paz.
The arrival will be between the 4 and 5 of next month and from there the AFA property will shelter him and his companions, in an environment free of coronavirus.
The
health bubble
to house the national team will begin to rule from this Monday under a
strict protocol
that will seek to have the success that the experiences of clubs like River and Boca did not have.
In order not to make the same mistakes that led to an outbreak in the
xeneize
team
and to miss several days of practices directed by Marcelo Gallardo for a positive case indoors,
Daniel Martínez
, head of the medical team of the selected team, diagrammed together with his entire team and the advice of specialists planning that must be rigorously carried out without exceptions.
How will the
albiceleste bubble
work
?
The first rule is very clear and simple, but not always easy to comply with:
no one goes in and no one goes out.
No one.
This is the crucial requirement to maintain the "shielded" concentration and avoid possible leaks.
There can be no relaxation in this regard.
The team's changing rooms were also thoroughly sanitized.
Photo: AFA Press
Therefore, this Monday at 9 pm the
25 people
who make up the entire delegation
will enter the premises
.
It is about all the staff of the Selection that is made up of the technical, medical, administrative employees, some leader in charge, props, communication, kitchen and waiters, maintenance and cleaning.
In addition, an infectologist will join.
All these personnel have already been tested twice
.
On Friday they underwent the serological test, which measures antibodies.
Two of them - who are not part of the coaching staff - found out that they had Covid-19 at some point and never realized it.
Then came the turn of the PCR, but with saliva.
What is the difference with the already known swabs?
None: they detect the virus in the same way.
This type of test is widely used in the United States.
This Sunday they were tested again through saliva PCR.
They all tested negative.
But it did not end there since every four days they will be controlled.
In turn, the doctor Martínez gave a talk on the prevention of the virus to the staff on Friday.
# Covid19 The @afa doctors, Daniel Martínez and Jorge Mouras, gave a talk on virus prevention for all the employees of the #Ezeiza property.
pic.twitter.com/QfRhnIHArQ
- AFA (@afa) September 18, 2020
Why should everyone be isolated from this Monday?
The same mandatory 14-day preventive isolation applies that must be carried out when entering the country.
This is because exactly in two weeks the first footballers of the 30 that Lionel Scaloni has already summoned from abroad will begin to arrive, plus those that are announced from local football, which will be between four and five and will be known within a week.
Minimizing the possibility of leakage of the virus is the premise, although they warn from AFA that there are never one hundred percent guarantees for more rigorous precautions that are taken.
Always a very small percentage of risk remains.
But it will be sought to keep it to a minimum.
In fact, the entire property was sanitized to the extreme a few days ago.
Life inside the site will not be very comfortable.
There will be two complexes affected by the bubble.
The staff will be divided between the Youth sector and the Major concentration.
Those who remain in one place cannot access the other.
They can only be crossed if they are on a walk in the open air, but with distance and chinstraps on.
All sectors of the AFA property are virus free.
photo: AFA Press
They will sleep in
individual rooms
.
Outside of them, the use of the mask will be almost permanent.
They will take it off to eat.
Precisely at meals the tables will be of three people maximum and with the due distance.
The meetings will be outdoors.
If the coaching staff wants to analyze videos together, for example, no more than three members can do it in the same room.
The
second stage
will begin with the arrival of the footballers, between October 4 and 5.
The coexistence protocol, room distribution, meal times, use of the gym, changing rooms and common rooms such as recreation rooms are being finalized.
With the entry of the players, Claudio Tapia, president of the AFA, would join to stay there and be part of the delegation.
Each player will be tested when entering and will not be able to leave the premises.
They will do it only to move together to the Boca court on the day of the first game and then to travel to Bolivia, which is being defined if it will be on a charter flight on Tuesday 13.
Even the parking lots were disinfected on the Ezeiza property.
photo: AFA Press
In the midst of the pandemic, the national team is preparing to open the door again to Messi, finally enabled for both games, and the rest of those chosen by Scaloni to take the first two steps on the long road to the next Copa del World.
The quarantine of Lionel Scaloni
When Lionel Scaloni set foot in the country last Tuesday, he still wasn't certain what was going to happen with the South American Qualifiers.
The man born in Pujato arrived from Mallorca, where he resides with his family, and went directly to the Ezeiza property to carry out the strict preventive quarantine that the Government ordered to anyone who enters the national territory.
A few hours later, the president of the AFA, Claudio Tapia, told him that everything had been given so that the road to Qatar 2022 effectively begins, as stipulated, in October, on the 8th and 13th. This was made official on Thursday after that FIFA confirmed that European clubs will be obliged to give up their players.
That same day Walter Samuel arrived from the Old Continent.
Scaloni's other collaborator also went to Ezeiza.
And there they both remain since then making the corresponding isolation.
Lionel Scaloni quarantines Ezeiza and analyzes who to quote from the local media.
Photo: AFP
What do the hours kill with?
Each one is in a different room.
And the protocol indicates that they practically cannot get out of it.
90 percent of the time they stay there, watching games, reading, chatting on the phone and doing some exercise routine or stationary bike.
Just this weekend, while no one was around, Scaloni was able to go out to get some air and sun.
He went up for a while to the terrace of complex 1 of the property, where the Senior Selection is concentrated.
These days he was mainly dedicated to finalizing the list of 30 foreign players that was announced on Friday.
Although he was already advanced, he gave it the final touches.
The return to action of the Argentine teams in the Copa Libertadores helps him see those he follows from local football in motion.
Next week he will announce who he will summon from the country.
Esteban Andrada, Franco Armani, Gonzalo Montiel, Lucas Martínez Quarta and
Matías Zaracho
are the ones who follow, but some surprises are not ruled out.
The Albiceleste DT still has another week of strict confinement ahead of him and then he will be able to stop doing everything in his room to move around the premises, always following the protocols that govern the National Team bubble.
FK
Look also
With Lionel Messi at the helm and the surprise of Facundo Medina, Scaloni gave the list for the Qualifiers
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