Speaking to reporters in Fort Lauderdale, Scaloni addressed media scrutiny regarding his team’s defensive readiness and their perceived over-reliance on their talismanic captain during the group stage. The tactician robustly defended his system, emphasising that while he welcomes a broader distribution of goals across the squad, securing collective victories remains the ultimate priority heading into a ruthless single-elimination phase.
Scaloni stated: “We are doing well, and naturally as excited as everyone else. There is an opponent to respect; they have done things very well, and the margin for error is shrinking. Whoever loses goes home. We are keeping that in mind, but it catches us at a good time. This is football, and matches are very evenly matched. Setting aside France or Mexico, who won very comfortably, other games have been very tightly contested. It will not be easy. That is the reality.
“With us, Messi has played under all sorts of conditions, so I imagine he will feature. It will depend on the match and on him. It is very difficult to predict what might happen. We have had chances fall to other players, but Leo, who is one of our forwards, scored the goals. It is not a cause for concern. I would like the goals to be shared around, but as long as the team plays well and wins, everything is fine.”
