He is the coach who has brought back smiles to Argentina, without any international trophy since 1993, after almost three decades of frustration and tears.
By winning the Copa America in Brazil, against Seleçao (1-0) in 2021, Lionel Scaloni won the hearts of a football-mad, passionate and uncompromising people.
Arrived in August 2018 at the controls of the Albiceleste in the shoes of an interim, alongside Pablo Aimar, when the duo had just been appointed at the head of the Argentinian U-20 team, Lionel Scaloni succeeded in demonstrate that he had the shoulders to stay in the most exposed position in Argentine football.
The former defender of La Coruña and Lazio Rome knows it perfectly, he who had succeeded a Jorge Sampaoli, sacked a year after being appointed, due to a break with his players and a premature elimination in 8th of the final of the World Cup-2018… against the Blues.
Player with a modest international career with only eight selections, Lionel Scaloni had not led any professional team before being appointed coach.
The Argentinian media gave him a life expectancy of a few matches on the Albiceleste bench due to his inexperience, and found it hard to see how he could manage players of the caliber of Lionel Messi or Angel Di Maria.
Even the late Diego Maradona mocked his appointment.
A skepticism gone today.
Argentina has been undefeated since July 2019, i.e. 36 matches, one unit short of the record set by Italy between 2018 and 2021. A sign of the confidence placed in it and its popularity: it has just been extended until 2026.
A group in its image
It must be recognized that the youngest (44 years old) coach present in Qatar has been able to build in a few years a solid and united group in his image, which goes perfectly with the talent of Leo Messi.
Through hard work, Lionel Scaloni has "forged a team with an identity and bulletproof game patterns, and not as before, an accumulation of individualities around the big star", explains César Luis Menotti, the coach of the coronation of 1978, in remarks reported by AFP.
A recipe that has proven itself on the South American continent that Abiceleste will apply on Tuesday against Saudi Arabia (group C), during its first World Cup match.
This new tournament, of which Argentina is one of the favourites, is a new chance for the seven-time Ballon d'Or, who came very close to a world title in 2014, failing in extra time, in the final, against Germany (1-0).
At 35, Messi, who is probably playing his last World Cup, has the opportunity to engrave his name and that of Scaloni, "the other Lionel", in gold letters in the history of the World Cup.
The World Cup in Qatar beyond football:
>> Italy, Argentina, Russia… Before Qatar, three controversial World Cups
>> Behind "carbon neutrality", the "greenwashing" World Cup
>> "It's a disposable workforce": the hell of migrant workers in Qatar
>> A controversial World Cup: Qatar's efforts to counter criticism
>> Qatar: shadow workers
>> Should we boycott the World Cup in Qatar? An Emirate under criticism
>> A bought World Cup? Since 2010, suspicions of corruption have weighed on Qatar
>> After Qatar, is a "greener" World Cup possible?
>> Mondial-2022: a political, economic or "hypocritical" boycott?
>> I have the right, I don't have the right... Guide for the good little supporter in Qatar
The summary of the
France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 app