Lionel Scaloni’s mind drifts back to 2006 and Cardiff. “I should have cleared the ball better,” he says. Back then, Scaloni played for West Ham United and only seconds remained in the FA Cup final with the team on the verge of winning their first trophy in 26 years and only the fourth in their history,
Then “the world came crashing down on me,” Scaloni admits. The defender’s poor clearance in the 90th minute, with West Ham 3-2 ahead, saw the ball eventually fall for Steven Gerrard, who hit an absurd shot and the final shifted. Liverpool went on to win on penalties and the final came to be remembered as ‘the Gerrard final’.
“I lost an FA Cup, it was partly my fault because I didn’t clear well, and life changed,” Scaloni recalls. “West Ham didn’t want to sign me, I return to Spain. I wouldn’t have met my wife or had my kids.” That mistake, however, may prove to be the best of Scaloni’s career.
Had the subsequent events not fallen into place then Argentina may still be searching for their first title in thirty years. A 36-game unbeaten run may be no more than a wistful dream. Scaloni is now Argentina’s unlikely hero, prising the best out of a national team who have long promised much but failed to deliver. Now Scaloni leads one of the favourites into the World Cup.
Scaloni is an unpretentious character, as is clear when he lays out with clarity how Argentina have improved under his watch. He has seen Leo Messi lift his first trophy with the national team amidst the side’s longest unbeaten run; they are now one off the world record, which they could equal against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Throughout his playing career, which included time at Deportivo La Coruna, Lazio and Atalanta, Scaloni had to deal with plenty of setbacks — none more so than that FA Cup final. “That night, after the FA Cup final, it was like I didn’t want to play football anymore,” he says. Struggling physically and thus mentally too, he says “at 29, 30, it was half-over”. But he found the determination to fight on.
At the 2006 World Cup he played “practically on one leg” but Scaloni has never been one to let people down. He hints at a mental “burden that weighed on the conscience”. A deep-thinker Scaloni was quick to turn his eye to coaching.
“I fed on football,” he says. “I could watch football 24 hours. I was always close to the coach, discussing what worked. That ‘bug’ always bit me. Even as a kid, the best in my age group, I was never an egotist, always pulled the group together. Something clicked in Italy. I went at 30 thinking I knew everything and found so much to learn. I did my first badge in 2011 despite not retiring until 2015.”
First an assistant for Jorge Sampaoli at Sevilla and then at Argentina, Scaloni was appointed caretaker manager in 2018 and then took on the role permanently a few months later. Since then the 44-year-old has forged an Argentina team that combines the best of previous eras: Cesar Menotti’s love of the ball, Carlos Bilardo’s fight.
'Copa America success removed thorn from this team'
It hasn’t been easy and Scaloni has used trial and error as the team’s evolution has unfolded. “If you insist on dying with your original idea, it won’t end well,” he says. “But the most important thing is the head. They’re all good players so if they’re in a good place mentally, if you can remove any fears; that’s important.
‘We came from two Copa America finals lost, a World Cup final lost. The feeling was, ‘We’re never going to win anything’, ‘We won’t win, won’t win, won’t win’. We told them that win or lose, the sun rises.”
Scaloni’s understated approach has seeped into his team, they’re a relatable side, a “national team belonging to everyone”. The wheels had begun to roll on Scaloni’s project and wins started being collected when the manager spoke to Messi, who had recently announced his retirement from international football. There was a conscious effort to get the team settled first before reintegrating Messi but as Scaloni admits, “it’s difficult to explain what he generates in a group from just being there”.
And so with Messi back and a tailwind behind them, Scaroni’s Argentina started to make real progress. “After six, seven, eight games, the group’s forming. Otamendi, Di Maria, who he already knew. De Paul joins, Lo Celso, Papu [Gomez], people who manage a group. When Leo joined, it was natural.”
However major honours still proved elusive. Argentina didn’t win the 2019 Copa America, losing to Brazil in the semi-finals, but played well. They respected the process and trust was quickly built. Chemistry formed and the unbeaten run started then.
Their impressive sequence of results has included claiming the Copa America in 2021 at the Maracana, the home of their rivals. That proved the spark. “The country needed that happiness — it had been a long time. Seeing Leo win pleased everyone, as much even as the seleccion.
“When Messi represents what he does for people, for teammates, knowing he had been denied for so long, that’s natural. That generation reached three finals, as if that was easy! People appreciate that now. But the Copa America removed a thorn from his side.”
The triumph also elevated Scaloni. “There was a fervour beyond the normal. If you think you’re more than you are, you’re dead. Someone said: ‘You’re bigger than the president now.’ I said: ‘Nah, you’re wrong.’ Maybe this helps people but I’m just a football coach.
“If we win the Copa America and I say, ‘Now we’ll win the World Cup’, no. We walk the same line, win or lose. Maybe people aren’t used to this, maybe they say: ‘This guy’s mad.’ I’m normal; look at the people with me: we’re all like that.”
Despite Scaloni’s words Argentina are well placed to emerge from a crowded field and clinch their first World Cup since 1986. “The World Cup is treacherous, the best team often doesn’t win,” Scaloni says. “What matters is knowing what you want: that’s the path we’ve travelled these four years.
“After the final game before Qatar the coaching staff talked. We compared that last game to our first and the feeling is the same. When you play for Argentina, that grrr, those nerves, that adrenaline, is always there. That never changes, whether it’s Guatemala or the World Cup.”