Argentina’s national coach Lionel Scaloni (44) is now a hero. But when he took office on August 2, 2018, there was sharp criticism of his commitment.
Especially from the legend Diego Armando Maradona († 60)!
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He even berated the new coach: “Scaloni can’t even direct traffic. How can we hand the national team over to him – are we all crazy?”
Diego Maradona at the 2018 World Cup
They probably aren’t, because Scaloni is doing a really good job, especially for someone who has never been a head coach anywhere before. He was promoted from assistant coach to interim coach. Together with Pablo Aimar, he was supposed to coach the team temporarily after Jorge Sampaoli’s contract was terminated. It was planned by the end of the year.
A year later at Copa America, he was still national coach and led Argentina to the semifinals. As a result, his contract was extended until after the 2022 World Cup.
The breakthrough came in 2021! His team won the Copa America, Argentina’s first title in 28 years. Now the world title followed!
The “Albiceleste” had been unbeaten for 36 games in a row before the opening defeat (1:2 against Saudi Arabia) at the World Cup! With a draw, Argentina could have matched the world record set by Italy, who went 37 games unbeaten.
Diego Maradona passed away more than two years ago, on November 25, 2020. He can no longer take back his mocking criticism. But he would certainly have been really proud of Scaloni!
After the game, the coach also talked about Maradona, among other things: “He’s with us. Luckily we managed to lift this trophy. This is something we’ve dreamed of for so long. He would have loved it so much he would have been one of the first to come out and celebrate with us.”
