Scaloni corrected one of those decisions by replacing Gonzalez at halftime. But it was difficult to understand what exactly he was hoping to achieve by starting in the first place. De Paul, one of Argentina’s key figures in their last World Cup triumph, looked a shadow of his former self throughout the tournament and was withdrawn after 70 minutes in the final.
Then there’s Lautaro Martinez. Why was the striker who scored in both the quarterfinals and semi-finals not brought on at all? In those matches, Lautaro demonstrated both his aerial ability and his effectiveness in applying pressure from the front. Why didn’t Scaloni make any effort to take advantage of those qualities?
The questions do not end here. Many members of Argentina’s World Cup squad arrived in excellent form.
Nico Paz, for example, enjoyed a dream Serie A season, and was instrumental in helping Como qualify for the Champions League. He was named Serie A Player of the Season after scoring 12 goals and providing six assists.
Yet Paz played only 72 minutes in the entire World Cup – 61 of them in the meaningless group-stage match against Jordan.
Valentin Barco, who impressed in Ligue 1 and is capable of playing in multiple positions, also received few opportunities. Will Scaloni accept responsibility for failing to make better use of these young talents?
It’s not that Scaloni is afraid to take risks. Following Argentina’s crushing defeat to Saudi Arabia at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he overhauled his team and put his trust in then-youngsters Enzo Fernandez and Julián Álvarez.