Argentina is the reigning champion of the tournament and the World Cup besides being one of the favorite teams to win the Copa America 2024. They have already sealed their qualification to the next round and have to play their last group stage match against Peru but Lionel Scaloni will not be able to coach his team.
The reason why Lionel Scaloni must be out of the field for the match against Peru is due to the delays his team had to return to the field after halftime against Canada and Chile.
In the two games played, La Albiceleste took about two minutes to come out onto the field after halftime. In the first match against Canada, Argentina was fined financially while in the second match against Chile, CONMEBOL decided to suspend Lionel Scaloni for 1 match.
Who will replace Scaloni as Argentina’s coach?
The Argentine coach’s replacement for the match against Peru will be his assistant coach and former Real Madrid and Inter Milan defender, Walter Samuel, who once coached Argentina when Lionel Scaloni was ill with Coronavirus back in 2022.
Assistant coach of Argentina Walter Samuel attends a press conference ahead of their match against Peru as part of CONMEBOL Copa America 2024. Hector Vivas/Getty Images
The first and only time Walter Samuel coached Argentina was in the match against Chile in the South American qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. In that match Argentina beat Chile 2-1 with goals by Angel Di Maria and Lautaro Martinez.
At the press conference prior to the final group stage match of the Copa America 2024 against Peru, Samuel was asked about Scaloni and the suspension he received:
“The situation has made Scaloni a bit bitter. We consider ourselves a correct coaching staff, that in these years we have almost never had this type of sanctions. He wanted to be with the team tomorrow. We will accept what CONMEBOL decides, but he is upset”.
