Scaloni’s masterclass: DT told the secrets of his perfect plan to win the final of the Qatar 2022 World Cup

They say coaches earn their players’ trust when what they score in training or tactical discourse is replicated on the pitch. And that’s what he seems to have gotten Lionel Scaloni so that Lionel Messi and company have followed him from the beginning of his cycle and up to the maximum appointment at the World Cup in Qatar 2023. Five months after the achievement of the third star for Argentina, the DT offered a masterclass to FIFA where told in detail how he planned the World Cup final against France. And everything went according to plan.

One of the situations that attracted attention on December 18, 2022 (which seems so far away, although it was just 150 days after the date) was when Di María appeared playing on the left. The man from Pujato told it Fideo only discovered his position on the pitch an hour before the end. They kept the data together with their coaching staff (Pablo Aymar, Walter Samuel, Roberto Ayala…) under lock and key so that they could not be leaked.

“We, since we had to play with France because they had gone to Morocco, it was clear that Di María would play on the left. But we didn’t tell them until an hour before the game, which was kind of key because we didn’t give anyone any advantage so they’d know… today everything is known and maybe that could be counterproductive.” , began the driver and who gave the Scaloneta its name.

Lionel Scaloni had the machete of December 18 (or a similar one) with the numbers of the holders who took the field and that of the French who would have been in their sector of the field.

later, LS reviewed the perfect counterattack that ended with a great goal from Di Maria and the role Julián Álvarez played at the beginning of the action: “Julián always had to be above his central midfielder, leaving Leo a little more free. And in that play it was clear why (JA holds the 5 that the lottery) Nahuel’s ball for Alexis who, almost without looking, hit it sees Leo from behind, Julian comes out (plays with Mac Allister) e Angel appears on the other side free, which was what we were looking for, who didn’t need to go down and defend with Dembelé. First, because it’s not for him. And second because it had to be fresh to attack. It was kind of the image of what we wanted: be crouched a bit and if we recover it we end up on Di María’s side“.

But obviously the big problem that the Argentine team had in that match was Mbappé, who reached the final at a superlative level. “The idea was that he never got a header,” said Scaloni, which he did for almost 80 minutes.

“The idea is that no matter how fast a player is, you don’t have to give him a break because, once he has received it head-on. He has received very few times head-on and the one he did receive hurt us,” concluded Scaloni.

Before concluding, the DT clarified that football is played with and without the ball, for this reason they have also raised the game taking into account the possibility that the ball was in possession of the opponent.

Scaloni spoke with a machete in hand (with his own machete) and the FIFA man asked him if he would like to get a copy. “I have everything very clear”, rejected Pujato’s. And yes, he was very clear about it, so much so that the Qatar 2023 World Cup final went from one end to the other as he thought.