The Lionel Argentina always needed!
Lionel Scaloni, a name that emitted only doubts and scepticism among the football community not even a few years ago, is currently one of the most talked-about on the lips of Football Pundits. The 35-match unbeaten streak has put Scaloni among the elites of the Coaching community of World Football. At a time, when Argentina was suffering from a lack of direction, the stop-gap coach turned out to be one of the best bets to win the World Cup after 36 years.
Before the World Cup in Qatar starts on November 20, let us take a look at Scaloni's profile as Argentina mounts up its challenge for the most coveted football trophy in the world.
Scaloni was a player of wide range, he played primarily as a right-back or right-midfielder. This versatility made him a unique right-wing-back of his generation.
Scaloni started his career in the Argentine Primera División with local club Newell's Old Boys, the same as Lionel Messi and then Estudiantes de La Plata.
He joined Deportivo La Coruna in 1997. Scaloni spent much of his professional career with Deportivo in Spain, amassing totals of 258 games and 15 goals over 9 seasons. He won La Liga 1999-2000 with them.
He was loaned at West Ham in the 2005-06 season where he helped them propel to a runners-up finish at FA Cup. He joined Racing Santander for one year before signing a 5-year contract at the Serie A club Lazio. He retired in 2015 after playing three years with Atalanta.
In 2018, after Argentina's underwhelming World Cup in Russia, Scaloni and Pablo Aimar were named caretaker managers until the end of the year. In November 2018, the former was confirmed in the post. Scaloni led Argentina to third place in Brazil.
Scaloni helped Argentina to win the 2021 Copa América title after defeating Brazil 1–0. This created a sensation on the Argentine football scene as Argentina won its first major trophy in 28 years.
On 1 June, Scaloni's Argentina won the 2022 Finalissima after defeating Euro Cup champions Italy 3–0 at Wembley Stadium.
Scaloni is famous for his quick plays and direct football which is not so popular in the South American scene. He also seems to have good man-management skills that are visible with his growing popularity among the squad.
