Argentina men’s national football team head coach Lionel Scaloni said “playing with your heart makes up for a lot of things”, after the Albiceleste had to fight tooth and nail against Cape Verde for its ticket to the Round of 16.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match,” said Scaloni. “Despite how much we suffered for it, we deserved the win, but they made things hard for us.”
The Argentina head coach highlighted the team’s never-say-never attitude, and how it “never shrank away” in the game. He insisted the Albiceleste “showed its character” while acknowledging that he’ll have to work with the team on the things that went wrong.
“We rose to the challenge in this match, which many thought was going to be a walk in the park, but we knew it wouldn’t,” he added.
Scaloni said that Cape Verde is a “great team” and that the effort they put into the duel with Argentina can “overcome a lot of factors” in today’s game, particularly as it went into extra time.
The Argentina boss said his team “hardly ever feels the weight of being the favorites,” and will never “shy away” from the game. However, he insisted he “never felt like the job was done,” as that’s what his experience has taught him.
“The match got ugly for us,” he admitted, “and it could’ve gone either way.”
It was Scaloni’s 100th game at the helm of the national team, and he was adamant this was one which “will leave a mark” with him, saying he was thankful it was a win, “else it would’ve been a sad statistic.”
The game against Cape Verde drew comparisons to Argentina’s Qatar 2022 opener against Saudi Arabia, in which Argentina took the lead before losing 2-1 in similar circumstances.
Scaloni agreed with the comparison, but insisted experience made the difference in this one.
“The team reacted this time around,” he pointed out. “They know what it is to play a World Cup, and the team was always in the match.”
Asked to send a message to the fans watching from Argentina, Scaloni highlighted the team’s courage once again.
“When I sit here and say the Argentina jersey isn’t the same as the others, people say we’re arrogant, but I can’t guarantee it is,” he said. “When you’re down in the match, and you have 70,000 fans in the stands and 47 million following you, it takes guts, and this team has them.
Cover image: Selección Argentina Twitter
