Lionel Scaloni and the Argentina national team are finding out day by day how, after winning the last World Cup and having to defend the title of world champions in the next one, expectations have risen. After the cancellation of the Finalissima against Spain, the last two friendlies scheduled against Mauritania and Zambia were not to anyone’s liking
Both thrashings were expected, but the Albiceleste only responded in the last match, which they won 5-0. The 2-1 win against Mauritania left many doubts. The level of the two opponents was not, perhaps, the best test for an Argentina that will arrive at the World Cup without having faced great teams to check their level
The big problem appeared mainly against Zambia, where Scaloni detected a lack of hunger in the Argentina players, according to several reports. This set alarm bells ringing because four years ago, the need to give Leo Messi his World Cup, the trophy he was missing, was key to achieving the objective with grit, intensity and heart. Now all that has not been seen so far and the risk of the world champion not being up to the task is beginning to be feared
In fact, Argentina’s three group rivals, Austria, Algeria and Jordan, left a very good impression in their last friendly matches and could be more complex enemies than expected. No one forgets that in the last World Cup, Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia in the first match and had to recover from that heavy blow.
De Paul sends a clear message
After thrashing Zambia, Rodrigo De Paul wanted to calm things down and show the team’s feelings less than three months before the World Cup: “We are human beings and sometimes we can have a bad day. We always show regularity in the last five or six years and that is what everyone has to keep.”
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