Lionel Messi “will continue to be the best footballer in history” whether he wins or loses the Copa América against Brazil on Saturday in Maracana, Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni said in the run-up to the South American classic.
With the forceful phrase, the technical director took pressure off the obsession of all Argentina because Messi conquered his first title with the senior team, a team that has not won a title since the 1993 Copa América in Ecuador.
Scaloni assured that the final “is an important game (…) but you have to take it calmly, cautiously and think that you have to do everything possible to win, but without any anxiety”.
The young Argentine coach stressed that it is only “a soccer match” and that the covid pandemic “taught us that soccer is important but it is not one of the most important things.”
When asked if the match is the second half of the Copa América Brasil-2019 semifinal where the ‘Canarinha’ defeated the Albiceleste, the coach said: «I don’t believe in revenge, I believe in the work we have been doing, I believe in the project that since we have been here, it will surely reach its best moment because it is a final »
“Surely the world is paralyzed watching this game and nothing else, there is no revenge,” he added.
The duel between Messi and his friend Neymar will be a match between great teams.
“We know which team it is,” Tite’s Brazil, and “we take our precautions and seek how to harm it,” remarked Scaloni, who took advantage of the conference to show his pride in the dedication of his players.
– The best rival, in the best place –
In line with his coach, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez assured that tonight he will sleep “like a baby” to enjoy the final.
A hero in the semifinal, in which he saved three penalties from Colombian players, the goalkeeper admitted that playing against Brazil and at home has a special flavor.
“I don’t think there is a better scenario than playing against Brazil at the Maracana, it is a dream for every Argentine youth, all the Argentine people want to see us triumph in Brazil,” he stressed.
Regarding the team, he highlighted the communion that was generated between the old guard led by Messi, Ángel Di Maria and ‘Kun’ Aguero, and the younger ones who were joining the team in the march.
The ‘veterans’ “molded us to their experience in the national team, I felt like one more from the first day of playoffs,” he thanked.
While on the controversy generated by his sayings to coffee players on penalties, ‘Draw’ played down its importance and said that they always talk in football, only now without an audience everyone listens to everything.
Martínez also highlighted the “unique moment” that he lives personally and in the family, since in addition to reaching his first final with the Argentine team, he added that he was the father of a girl four days ago and that because he was in the Copa América he still has not known.
“I’m looking for a dream that is to lift a title with the national team,” he concluded. AFP (HN)