From Italia 90 to Qatar 2022: Scaloni is not Bilardo, but he will also have to get his hands on the team

Let’s be clear right away: Scaloni is not Bilardo.

With that said, let’s move on. The unexpected defeat against Saudi Arabia it removed more bad memories, in particular, the fall with Cameroon at the debut of Italia 90, in Milan. The sensations are similar: a World Cup that starts in an unimaginable way, that starts many doubts about the team and that seriously affects classification.

At that time, Carlos Bilardo made unforgettable his phrase “if we don’t classify better than the plane crash, I just travel alone”, denied by him but confirmed by Julio Grondona. we insist, Lionel Scaloni is not as dramatic as Bilardo.

The chronicles of the time say so the coach was very impressed by the result and the team’s performance, but not paralyzed. The Doctor retrieved the scalpel to do major surgery on the team: made five changes. You had to beat the Soviet Union, yes or yes, five days later, in Naples.

Only one of the changes was due to injury: Oscar Ruggeri was out of the match against Cameroon with a muscle problem. Bilardo modified the entire defense, except for the permanence of Juan Simón, who continued as a libero. Pedro Monzón and Juan José Serrizuela came on as stoppers for Ruggeri and Néstor Fabbri, Pedro Troglio and Julio Olarticoechea replaced Néstor Lorenzo and Roberto Sensini as wingers. And Claudio Caniggia was in the lead, by Abel Balbo.

Despite his mistake in François Oman Biyik’s goal, Nery Pumpido continued in goal (he was allegedly injured in the match against the USSR), of course Diego Maradona also remained in attack, and what Bilardo didn’t move was the midfielder: José Horacio Basualdo, Sergio Batista and Jorge Burruchaga.

From the world champion coach four years earlier in Mexico there was also a critical message to the players: “You can’t lose like this, we made all the mistakes we could”, he told them, more words, less words, stronger words, sure. I was furious and then acknowledged that he had never made so many changes together.

The rest of the story is better known. Argentina recovered with a 2-0 victory, with goals from Troglio and Burruchaga, also survived the serious injury of Pumpido (replaced by Sergio Goycochea) and benefited because the referee did not notice a clear penalty Maradona.

The subsequent 1-1 draw against Romania served to ensure qualification. In that game started by Ricardo Giusti, Bilardo had found the team, beyond some subsequent occasional changes.

Scaloni is not Bilardo. He certainly didn’t think about a plane crash, but he saw his team play against Saudi Arabia and drew his own conclusions. For one or more reasons (football, mental, physical) the national team His level dropped a lot in his debut and he also lost the battle of intensity against Arab enthusiasts.

Major or minor operation, the most logical thing is that Scaloni put a hand in the team. An inward signal is also needed. Cristian Romero and Nicolás Tagliafico are likely to leave the starting eleven, as they did in the second half of their debuts. Lisandro Martínez for Cuti, to restart the team better and because the Tottenham central defender hadn’t played for some time. Marcos Acuña for Tagliafico to attack more in that left sector.

Some movement in the middle is also imposed. Rodrigo De Paul and Leandro Paredes are regulars in Scaloni’s team, but this shouldn’t affect the coach.

Scaloni is not a Bilardo, but with his style he has to make strong decisions.

Doha, Qatar. Special delivery.