On June 28, CEST, during the third matchday of the FIFA World Cup group stage, Jordan lost 1-3 to Argentina. After the match, Argentina's coach Scaloni attended the press conference.

The first part of the press conference is below.

What is your provisional assessment of these first three matches, with 9 points earned?

Scaloni: Overall, it's positive after winning three matches, especially because we've involved all the players, which has always been our objective. I believe everyone should not only get the opportunity to participate in the FIFA World Cup, but also actually play in the matches. Fortunately, we gave them playing time, and I think they performed well, as it was a difficult match. The opponent is a good team; they defended very compactly and didn't give us space. Fortunately, the players put in a good performance, and that's key: keeping everyone available and then evaluating for the future. Of course, if we can continue to count on them, they've proven to me that they're capable.

What are you most satisfied with in today's match, given all the rotations and testing you did? Also, what is everyone's current condition? The schedule will be more intense—almost one match every three days if you advance. What do you think about the players' physical condition?

Scaloni: Today, the only player on the bench who was unavailable to play was Romero. We hope to get him back, and if not, we'll replace him with other players. We know that from now on, the intervals between matches will be shorter. Before, it was one match every five or six days, but from the round of 16 onwards, things will change. We'll also play in Miami, where it's hot, and the match times are difficult, but everyone has played in such conditions, so we have nothing to complain about. Overall, however, apart from Romero, whom we hope to see recover, everyone is fine and available.

Three wins from three—Argentina is one of the most prolific teams in the group stage and has conceded the second-fewest goals. The dressing room seems to be in very high spirits. How do you keep the team grounded and prevent them from getting carried away?

Scaloni: There's no reason to get carried away. We must continue moving forward, playing, and giving our best. As I said yesterday in the press conference, wearing this shirt always means fighting with all your strength, giving your best, trying to win as much as possible, which they did today and will continue to do. They have that in them, and I won't tire of repeating it: they're naturally competitive, and that will always be the case, at least during my tenure. I believe Argentine players have always been like that, very committed to the national team. We just have to let them continue to prove it on the field.

Messi came on in the second half, and the stadium immediately erupted with fans chanting his name. He scored again, now with goals in seven consecutive FIFA World Cup matches, constantly breaking records. Are you surprised when you see him, or are you used to it? How do you feel about it?

Scaloni: What you see, I see too. Every time I'm asked this question, it's a bit awkward for me because I don't know what else to say. The only thing I can add is that today he could easily have played the full 90 minutes and perhaps continued extending his legendary record, but he chose to give his teammates playing time, also considering the upcoming matches. That says a lot; he doesn't just think about the numbers people talk about.

So I'm very happy he made that decision. I spoke with him, and he said it was for the best, and I agreed. It shows his attitude toward the national team, the squad, and his teammates. That's very good. As for the rest, what you mentioned—I've run out of adjectives.

You just mentioned Messi, and Lo Celso and Lautaro also scored. How important is it for both of them to score for the national team? Does it also boost their confidence?

Scaloni: I don't think we ever doubted Lautaro, Álvarez, or Lo Celso. Goals are always welcome, of course, but they did excellent work. Lautaro's performance was excellent, and even without goals, we're very satisfied with him. He's been very committed since joining us and is a very professional player. Of course, if they score, it's better for them and for the team, but even if they don't score, we're equally satisfied.

Why did you choose to start both Álvarez and Lautaro together from the beginning? Did that meet your expectations? One quick second question: on a scale of 1 to 10, what rating would you give the team after the group stage?

Scaloni: I don't do ratings on a scale of 1 to 10; I'm not used to grading that way, but I can say we're in good form. It's hard to say at what specific level, but we're indeed playing well. Now, the FIFA World Cup enters another phase. The reason for choosing both of them to start is that I wanted to give Álvarez more playing time first; he hadn't started before, he'd only made two appearances as a substitute. I've always said that balance is essential.

Today, I felt the team could afford to use both of them. Overall, they played very well; they always play well together—for example, against Paraguay and also in the match at the Monumental stadium. The two complement each other very well.

But I've always said it depends on the match; there are different types of matches, and you have to find balance. The team can't lose that balance, otherwise situations you don't like will happen, players will be unhappy, and teammates will feel uncomfortable. Our goal is to maintain this structure and balance.

Today, we tried having them play together, and overall, I'm very satisfied; they also created chances and contributed to the attack, which is very good.

As a coach, what do you think about the five players making their FIFA World Cup debuts this time? You've experienced such moments yourself.

Scaloni: It's an unforgettable moment in their lives, I imagine. Actually, when organizing the substitutions, we were trying to put together a "puzzle" to allow these players who needed to play to enter the match without disrupting the team's overall balance. That was also one of our objectives for today's match, and we achieved it, which I'm very satisfied with.

I hope they truly understand what it means to wear the national team shirt and play in the FIFA World Cup. Based on their performance and reactions, I think they do. So I'm very proud of that: we gave playing time to almost all outfield players; only the goalkeeper wasn't replaced. Overall, I'm very satisfied.

Why did you choose to play Palacios as a right-back today? It's a position he's never played before.

Scaloni: First, Palacios has already tried this position in training, and we think this position needs a rotation option. We're very satisfied with this choice, especially since it wasn't an easy match.

Traduit par IA.

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