Lionel Scaloni told how it was the moment he burst into tears after being world champion and the emotional embrace with Paredes

Gonzalo Montiel converted the penalty that consecrated the world champion to the Argentine team and didn’t celebrate, he started crying. There would be time for celebrations, but the first thing was to get rid of the tension with which the Albicelesti footballers carry themselves during the World Cup. That’s how they live it.

The same could be seen with Lionel Scaloni, to which they went to look for the cameras once the consecration was consummated. She tried to hold back the tears and When she saw Leandro Paredes running to hug her and thank her, she burst into tears. One of the most exciting scenes of the World Cup. In an interview with ‘Universo Valdano’, the DT recalled that moment.

“At which point you say… Ugh, it’s over, what a relief. We have it, but what a relief,” counted in speaking with George Valdano, world champion in 1986, broadcast on the channel Movistar. The relief for what could have been lost on penalties, rather than for what was won, filled the Argentine team with tears that evening in Doha.

Paredes was one of the first names that Scaloni chose to lead the generational change of the national team and arrived in Qatar as a starter. However, his physical problems, added to the good momentum of Enzo Fernández, have relegated him. Likewise, he came on a lot from the bench and had an important presence (he converted penalties against the Netherlands and France).

“It has something symbolic, for a player starting the reserve final to come and say ‘thank you’,” Valdano told him. “Yes. Leandro had suffered. He had joined the team, he left the team. He arrived right, he had an injury. Seeing him emotional moved me too. It was a very nice hug”.

“It was then that I realized what we had done. I had my mind in the Maracana when we won the Copa América. I sat on the bench, 20 or 30 seconds, and they were the best since I’ve been in the national team, along with those of Maracana ”He added.

If it comes to special moments in Qatar 2022, Messi’s goal against Mexico was one of them. La Scaloneta came from the heavy blow of her debut and played a bad first half against El Tri, showing a clear drop in confidence that Leo unlocked with an unassailable long-range shot for goalkeeper Ochoa.

At that moment the official broadcast shows Scaloni talking to Aimar, who seems to be affected by the game. Even the DT recalled that moment: “Pablo arrived with a family problem… the distance and the match that was a draw. He came to celebrate the goal, excited and agitated. I just wanted to talk about the change we were going to make. I didn’t realize he was crying. Then I understood Bill.”

On Messi, praise and more praise: “He is a leader, logically a footballer, but when he speaks I can guarantee that he says the right words. And what he transmits to his partner I’ve never seen, in any person. Not football eh, in no person have I seen everything that he can convey “.

He dreams of directing him in 2026: “Knowing he’s comfortable on a pitch and happy with the national team shirt, I’d leave him there. We’ll see later, but surely having him in a group and having the ’10’ in a World Cup will generate something”.