Read 3 minutes18 July 2026 10:59 AM IST
Two days out from a second consecutive World Cup final in New Jersey, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni expressed his displeasure with FIFA over the “forced” training session when he arrived in the city after a 2-1 semi-final win over England in Atlanta.
Speaking at an event on Friday ahead of the summit clash against Spain at MetLife Stadium, Scaloni criticized the training session he ran earlier in the day, which came before mandatory media commitments.
“We are resting now because We arrived around 11:00pm last night. Today they forced us to train at a time we didn’t want to, but with the press conference and everything we had to do a weird, quick training session.And we didn’t have to try anything,” Scaloni told TyC Sports.
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Scaloni’s champion team was taken to a training session at 3:30pm in the scorching seasonal heat of the United States. The 48-year-old boss has previously criticized the grueling schedule, citing limited recovery time between matches during the knockout rounds.
“As you get closer to the end, with more matches being played, you need more rest, yet the opposite is happening,” Scaloni said ahead of Argentina’s Round of 16 match against Egypt earlier this month.
“We played in Miami the other day in that heat and now we’re going to play tomorrow afternoon. The rest of the time is not good.
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“I think it took a few more hours for Egypt (to recover), not a big difference, but I believe rest becomes even more important when the World Cup reaches its final stage.”
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On Friday, Scaloni reiterated that his team would prioritize rest and recovery ahead of their fifth game in 15 days.
“We are focused on rest and based on that we will see how they come, because there are players who are not 100 percent and we will evaluate them. “The coach agreed. “We play thinking about ourselves, but seeing the good things the opponent has.”
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Argentina are on the brink of history, aiming to become the first team to defend their title in 64 years since Brazil in 1962.