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“We left the office only to eat and sleep”: the revelation of Ratón Ayala about how Argentina managed to reverse the defeat against Saudi Arabia in the World Cup

Lionel Scaloni’s field assistant referred to the initial fall in the World Cup

December 18, 2022 will remain in the retina of the Argentina. That day the selection of Lionel Scaloni victory to France in a dramatic final resolved on penalties after six goals in the 120 minutes played in the Lusail Stadium. But the World Cup path began with an unexpected defeat against Saudi Arabia which made classification difficult. Roberto Ayalaone of the coach’s closest collaborators, revealed details of what caused this result and showed his emotion on the surface when remembering the title achieved after 36 years.

“We did the duel that we had to do after the first game. They were hard days”began the Mouse in conversation with the program the return in Fox Sports. The talks deepened within the coaching staff during the four days prior to the decisive duel against Mexico, there was no room to stay behind: “We only went out to eat or sleep, we were at the office all day”. The 2-1 fall hit deep within the delegation. Despite the obligation that was imposed on the following party, Ayala He recognized that they had to show another spirit in practice beyond any uncertainty in the immediate future: “We knew that we had to keep our heads up in training, show that we were whole. The players understood it and pushed us to do more”. “I saw the energy of the group and it gave me peace of mind”, he added.

Nobody expected the result of the first match. There was significant self-criticism inside, but we saw that the group was doing well. I was healthy. That they knew that, from the second game, they were playing defining matches. When the round of 16 arrived, we were calm because we had just played games that could leave you out”, he stated. And he praised the communion lived in Asian lands: “It is a group that did not go through difficult times. The majority had to win. The energy of the little ones infected the older ones, they didn’t let them fall and they were on a par with the little ones. There were no long faces, everyone wanted to add. That was the message: belonging to a privileged group of players, they understood it and managed themselves. On our part, there was not much to do”.

The suffered qualification to the round of 16 gave way to two direct elimination matches against Australia, Netherlands, Croatia and finally, France. But the fifth highest player with the most appearances in this jersey still can’t believe what they’ve achieved. “I do not fall. Every morning I wake up wondering if it’s true, if it really happened. Afterwards, it’s your turn to go out somewhere, run into people and the repeatedly ‘Thank you’ me… It excites me. It reminds me of everything we lived through, it was crazy ”he narrated while making the gesture that his skin stood on end in a story with deep emotion.

In these situations, the continuous encouragement that fell from the stands became a very important boost for the team: “We were local in all the games. We felt there was tremendous support. We went with spectacular energy to start the World Cup. They didn’t reproach us for choosing the players, the results were given and it was the best way to get to a competition”. “Obtaining the Copa América was touching the sky with your hands. Imagine becoming world champions. The key is the way in which the players understood the message about how to represent the National Team on and off the pitch. We started with a dream, which later came true ”, he declared.

“Today I met the world champions at the venue in the presentation of the candidacy for the 2030 World Cup and we have a little place there with them. We were able to touch the World Cup”, he said after having attended the event this Tuesday in Ezeiza in what was the presentation of the candidacy of Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay to organize the World Cup in more than seven years, that had the presence of different champion soccer players in 1978 and 1986.

Keep reading:

Matías Lammens gave details of the candidacy for the 2030 World Cup: how the venues will be distributed and when the stadiums will be defined
An artist created a ticket in honor of Dibu Martínez and it went viral
Surprise in the Club World Cup: with a brilliant Luciano Vietto, Ramón Díaz’s Al Hilal eliminated Flamengo and will play in the final

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