Lionel Scaloni addresses future as Argentina head coach

The World Cup winner caused a stir after defeating Brazil last November, suggesting that he may not want to lead Albiceleste for much longer.

It is fair to say that Lionel Scaloni has exceeded expectations during his time in charge of the Argentina national team. Scaloni’s previous coaching experience consisted of spell as an assistant to Jorge Sampaoli at Sevilla and an ill-fated tilt at the 2018 World Cup with Argentina, again as Sampaoli’s number two.

But after that failure in Russia Scaloni found himself in charge of the national team; first as a caretaker, then an interim, and finally, in 2019, the permanent head coach. After an underwhelming start Scaloni lead the team to glory, first winning the 2021 Copa América and then the World Cup the following year, ending his nation’s 36-year wait for the trophy.

However managing Argentina, even during a period of success, takes its toll and last November he made headlines when he revealed that it would be “very difficult to continue” in the role. La Albiceleste were world champions and had just beaten old rivals Brazil but Scaloni seemed to be suggesting that his time in charge was drawing to a close. Four months on, Scaloni’s outlook appears very different. Speaking ahead of his team’s friendly against El Salvador the 45-year-old took the opportunity to elaborate on his past remarks.

“It was a moment of reflection after a difficult year,” he explained. “It’s crazy to say that it was a difficult year after having won a World Cup, but it was a difficult year.”

“After thinking about it, having meetings, we made the decision... I wouldn’t say ‘To continue’, because we never said that we were not going to continue, but to reinforce our principles and not slow down. It’s one thing