Lionel Scaloni spoke after Argentina’s disappointing draw against Chile in Brazil’s Copa America debut, one of Lionel Messi’s last chances to win with the national team. After a first half where it was superior to Chile, a penalty well taken by Wilmar Roldán brought the trasandinos closer to the tie and Scaloni’s team could not find the ways to win it, as it happened a little more than a week ago in Santiago del Estero.
#CopaAmérica ️ @lioscaloni: “To have played better on this pitch says a lot. We found a pitch where after ten minutes you couldn’t play football anymore.” — Argentina national team (@Argentina)
June 14, 2021
“They were two specific plays in which the team was not good, they got the penalty and nothing else. From that moment on it was uphill for us,” said the Argentine coach. Scaloni took aim at the pitch of the Nilton Santos stadium in Rio de Janeiro, which as soon as the game started and complicated the development: “We found a field in which after ten minutes you could no longer play football,” he said.
With little self-criticism about a second half that again left many worries and the third tie in three games, the DT said he was not worried because “we generated situations, we put a lot of people in the area, it’s going to come in.” We deserved to win but in the end we left with a draw. Anyway, this is just the beginning of a very tough tournament,” closed the coach of the national team, whose next match against Uruguay on Friday at 21hs will be key for the first place in the group.
