Messi silence says everything as Argentina boss Scaloni threatens to resign
World Cup-winning manager Lionel Scaloni has threatened to walk away from his post in charge of Argentina - but his captain Lionel Messi has remained silence on the revelations.
The pair created history together by masterminding La Albiceleste's third tournament win on the world stage in Qatar in 2022, following in the footsteps of Diego Maradona in the process. However, less than a year after pulling off the era-defining feat in the showpiece in Lusail, it appears that there might be trouble in paradise.
As Messi and his teammates celebrated a 1-0 win over arch-enemies Brazil in a hostile game at the Maracana in a World Cup qualifier, it became clear that fatigue had set in for Scaloni. Following a hostile affair, which was marred by violence in the stands prior to kick-off, his side was able to block out the noise to gain a crucial victory on the road.
However, the resilience of his team was not enough to placate Scaloni's woes as he reflected: "Argentina needs a coach who has all the energy possible and who is well," as he seemingly admitted that he is considering his future, adding: "I need to stop the ball and start thinking, I have a lot of things to think about during this time.
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"It's not goodbye or anything, but I need to think because the bar is very high and it's complicated to keep going and it's complicated to keep winning. These guys are making it difficult, so I need to think about it for a while. I will talk to the FA president and the players afterwards."
Tottenham defender Cristian Romero came out in support of the World Cup-winning manager, saying: "We are sure and hope that Scaloni will continue. Let's see now he will have time to think, he didn't say anything in the dressing room about it. We will try to convince him."
However, team captain Messi has not yet been drawn on the subject, despite teammate Romero's comments suggesting that the Argentina dressing room is united behind their boss. Instead, his comments following the 1-0 win over Brazil centred around the clash between fans and the police in the stand before the game.
Argentina's forward Lionel Messi left the field due to incidents in the stands before Brazil versus Argentina at Maracana Stadium (CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images)Giving his account of the scenes at the Maracana as the game was delayed by 30 minutes amid unrest in the stadium, he said: "It was bad because we saw how they were beating people. The police, as happened in the Libertadores final, were once again repressing the people with sticks.
"We went to the locker room because it was the best way to calm everything down, it could have ended in tragedy. You think about the families, the people who are there, who don't know what's going on and we were more concerned about that than playing a match that, at that point, was of secondary importance."
The win over Brazil left Argentina sitting pretty at the top of the CONMEBOL qualification table on 15 points, with their great rivals languishing in sixth place. The world champions did taste defeat for a first time since the tournament in Qatar in this latest round of qualifiers against Uruguay in a 2-0 loss.
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