The technician of the Argentine national team, Lionel Scalonigave a press conference where he supported his team after the 2-1 defeat against Colombia, stated that Nicolás Otamendi’s penalty on Daniel Muñoz was wrongly called and once again criticized the timing of the match.
“We congratulate Colombia. I think we played a good game, given the circumstances. We stood up to the challenge at all times and could have even won.”highlighted the world champion and two-time American champion coach.
“We always try to move behind the ball and be effective in the final metres, something we were unable to do today. We need to correct the things we have in order to improve,” he added.
Asked about the controversial penalty awarded by Chilean referee Piero Maza, he said: “The first image that the referee should have seen was not the one where it ‘appears’ that he touched it, but he should have seen the entire play from the beginning. That conditions him”.
Then he continued: “Football is a sport where you have to look at what’s going on around you. Muñoz never complained. You don’t have to think about it too much. But he affected the game. On a psychological level he gave them a push, he made us more nervous, but we had enough to equalise.”he said.
He also referred to the possible penalty on Julián Álvarez in the first half. “As for Julián’s play, he stomped on it enormously. I don’t see a foul by Julián, that’s for sure, but the referee blew his whistle and the play ended there. Sometimes it hits our side and this time it hit us on the other side. We have to keep our heads down and keep moving forward because also, if you say one word too many, they’re on the lookout to penalize, so we’ll leave it there.”he indicated.
The coach took advantage of the press conference to criticise the organisation again for the time at which the match was played, which made the players suffer from the high temperatures in Barranquilla. “The heat is the same for both teams, but the time of the match is not right. You can play at five, six, seven in the afternoon. I don’t think it’s healthy for the players to develop their maximum potential.
Source: Ambito
