They say that coaches earn the trust of their players when what they mark in training or tactical talk is replicated on the field. And that is what Lionel Scaloni seems to have achieved so that Lionel Messi and company followed him from the beginning of his cycle until the maximum appointment in the Qatar 2023 World Cup. Five months after achieving the third star for Argentina, the coach offered a masterclass to FIFA where he told the detail how he planned the final of the World Cup against France. And everything went according to plan.
One of the situations that caught the attention that December 18, 2022 (which seems so far away, although barely 150 days have passed since the date) was when Di María appeared playing on the left. Pujato's man said that Fideo only knew his position inside the field an hour before the end. They kept the data with their coaching staff (Pablo Aymar, Walter Samuel, Roberto Ayala...) under seven keys so that it would not leak.
"We, from the moment we had to play for France because they had moved to Morocco, we were clear that Di Maria was going to play on the left. But we didn't tell them until an hour before the game, which was a bit the key because we didn't give anyone any advantage to let them know... today everything is known and maybe this could be counterproductive, "started the driver and who gave name to the Scaloneta.
Lionel Scaloni had the machete of December 18 (or a similar one) with the numbers of the starters who took to the field and that of the French who would be in his sector of the court.
Afterwards, LS reviewed the perfect counter that ended in Di Maria's goal and the role played by Julián Álvarez at the beginning of the play: "Julián always had to be on top of their central midfielder leaving Leo a little freer. And in that play it was clear because (JA squeezes the 5 that the raffle) the ball of Nahuel for Alexis who, almost without looking, sees Leo from behind, Julián makes the movement outside (plays with Mac Allister) and Angel appears on the other side free, which was what we were looking for, that he did not have the need to go down to defend with Dembelé. First, because it's not his thing. And secondly because he had to be fresh to attack. It was a bit the image of what we wanted: to be a little crouched and if we got it back, to end up on Di Maria's side."
The end is where I started: that's how the play that Scaloni had thought of in the dressing room ended. Photo: Xinhua
But obviously, the big problem that the Argentine National Team had in that match was Mbappé who reached the final at a superlative level. "The idea was that he would never receive head-on," Scaloni said, something he accomplished for almost 80 minutes.
"The idea is that, no matter how fast a player is, you don't have to give him a break because, once he received from the front. He received very few times from the front and the one he received hurt us," Scaloni concluded.
Before finishing, the coach clarified that football is played with the ball and without it, so they also raised the game taking into account the chance that the ball was in the possession of the rival.
Scaloni spoke with machete in hand (with his machete) and the FIFA man asked him if he wanted to take a copy. "I have it very clear," Pujato dismissed. And yes, he had it very clear, so much so that the final of the Qatar 2023 World Cup went from end to end as he thought.