The choice of Argentina, Lionel Scalonisaid Tuesday from Miami that the delegation is looking forward to traveling to Venezuela on Wednesday to play the game in the ninth round of qualifiers and, in addition to setbacks caused by the hurricane Miltonhe said he was confident the player’s loss would not affect the team’s level.
“We asked to travel today, but they denied us because of the typhoon and the trip is on Wednesday,” he told reporters, leaving a cloud of doubt about the game scheduled for Thursday. To get to the Venezuelan city of Maturín the Albiceleste must fly to Colombia and from the border city of Cúcuta travel by land, as flights from Argentina and the United States are not authorized by the Venezuelan government.
“It’s almost impossible to leave on Thursday,” Scaloni explained because of the possibility that the delegation won’t be able to leave on Wednesday either. “It does not depend on us. The most important thing is the health of the people. You cannot isolate yourself from what is happening outside, for the health of everyone, they protect themselves when they leave their homes. It is something new, different for us, that we are not used to. We are alert.
The coach also identified other changes that he had to introduce in preparation. “It was a very difficult day for us in the call-up. We had a lot of imponderables. Bringing players from Europe is difficult now. We have to take advantage of the players who are in Argentine football,” he explained.
Despite four injury absences from his squad and the absence due to suspension of two other players, he hopes his team can “maintain the level” in the next two days of the South American qualifiers.
The injured are full-back Marcos Acuña and forwards Paulo Dybala, Nicolás González and Alejandro Garnacho. In addition, defender Cristian ‘Cuti’ Romero and goalkeeper Emiliano ‘Dibu’ Martínez were suspended. Scaloni expressed his support for his goalkeeper. “He expressed himself in a very respectful and correct way. That’s what he said. These are things that cannot happen again. Especially since the team cannot be without Dibu or Cuti. They are important players.”
Martínez was punished for two days by the FIFA Disciplinary Court after hitting a journalist’s camera after the match in Barranquilla and for placing the Copa América trophy in his genital area during the title celebration after the win over Chile at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
