Argentina ‘have to do the job on the pitch’
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said his players need to maintain their high competitive level after beating France on penalties to win the country’s third World Cup in Qatar last year.
Ahead of today’s friendly against Panama, Scaloni spoke about the squad that will feature captain Lionel Messi and the rest of the players who were crowned world champions on Dec 18.
“We are world champions, but that doesn’t mean we have the right for more. Just because we win we can’t do whatever we want, that’s what they [the players] have to understand,” he told a news conference.
The coach said his main objective at this stage, after winning the Copa America, Finalissima and World Cup, is for the players to understand that they must remain competitive.
“The message is that a new process is beginning: the pitch is what rules; from there on those who are world champions have no advantage, we will have to keep working,” he said.
“The Argentina shirt doesn’t allow you not to give your best, that’s clear to us. Afterwards, it’s good to celebrate, but we have to do our job on the pitch.”
Regarding the line-up for today’s game, Scaloni said that those players who took the field in the World Cup final will start. “I’d like for people to watch their players,” he added.
Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho and Sevilla forward Alejandro Gomez are the two notable absentees from the squad due to injury.
More than 1.5 million fans applied for 63,000 available tickets for the match at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires.
With 20,000 places in the 83,000-capacity stadium reserved for invitees, the remaining tickets were snapped up within two hours of going on sale. The cheapest cost 12,000 pesos (US$60) up to 49,000 pesos ($245), which is more than half the average monthly salary in the South American country.
Argentine football federation president Claudio Tapia said the body had received more than 130,000 requests for media accreditation, in a stadium that has capacity for just 344 journalists.
The first match for the team since the World Cup triumph will be played in a party atmosphere after celebrations with the players planned for last year could not take place as millions of fans congregated in downtown Buenos Aires. The crowd congestion led to the squad abandoning their open-top bus parade and flying over the crowd by helicopter.