Argentina 2024 Copa America Overview

Messi! Messi! Messi! When it comes to anything Argentina or even anything football there’s only one name that springs first to most people’s mind, and it’s Messi. What Lionel Messi has achieved in his brilliant career seemed to culminate with winning the 2022 FIFA world cup with his beloved country Argentina. It would be hard to find a sporting achievement that brought so much joy to a sporting icon, you can see it clearly in the pictures of Messi holding that special cup, instantly dwarfing all his previous achievements. That joy spread all through the country like the strongest wildfire, literally shutting the country down to celebrate. It shows just how important football is in this special South American country. The 15 time Copa America champions Argentina are truly on a golden run, and look to add their third successive major trophy if they can win the 2024 Copa America. This might be Messi’s final Copa America and they have every chance to retain  the cup. They have world class talent all over the field to support a true legend of the game seeking glory again. Anything less than winning the 2024 Copa America would be seen as a complete failure for the South American footballing giants.

Argentina Manager

The national team is managed by Lionel Scaloni, who has been at the helm since 2018. Scaloni rose quickly in management after a long playing career. After a stint as an assistant coach at Sevilla, Scaloni took over as the head coach of the Argentina under-20 National team. Less than a year later in a quite surprising move the Argentina Football Federation appointed Scaloni as the head coach of the Men’s National Team. This move brought lots of negative responses from the press and many people in Argentina who could not understand how such an inexperienced manager could get such a high profile position. The 2018 Copa America tournament did not bring any reassurance that Scaloni was the right man for the job, Argentina disappointingly finished in 3rd place. Surprisingly the Argentina Football Federation kept faith in Scaloni, and it has paid off better than they could imagine. At the 2021 Copa America, Argentina defeated hosts Brazil 1-0 in the Final to win their first major trophy in an astonishing 28 year period, far too long for a country with such a wealth of talent. This great achievement silenced most doubters who felt Scaloni was unfit for the job. This success carried on with the National team as they finally won the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022, their first FIFA World Cup success since the Maradona lead team of 1986. After so much success for such an inexperienced manager Scaloni has been nicknamed as “midas touch”, and now no one is calling for his head anymore.

Argentina Squad

La Albiceleste come into this tournament as favorites, and they have the talent, depth, and experience better than any other squad. Players at the world class level cover almost every position in this potentially dominating team. Covering the goal is 2022 FIFA World Cup Golden Glove winner Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa. Heroics in multiple penalty shootout victories for Argentina on their way to world cup glory have already eternalized Martinez in Argentine lore, he also had some of the best shithousery ever seen in the game. Some villainized Martinez but he will forever be trusted and loved in his homeland. Martinez has also played a major role in helping his club Aston Villa qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1983, when it was still the European Cup. Argentina will hope their clear number one between the sticks is at his usual best this summer. The center back pairing for the blue and white shirts is still up for discussion, they have three players in Christian Romero of Tottenham, Nicolas Otamendi of Benfica, and Lisandro Martinez of Manchester United who will be vying for the starting two positions. All three could make an argument for the starting spots and should be good enough to help win the cup. In the wide back positions Argentina have an almost surplus of potential starters, but it is probably the weakest area of the pitch for them. Nahuel Molina of Atletico Madrid has been in fine form, Gonzalo Montiel of Nottingham Forest has lots of potential, and you can’t count out veteran defenders Nicolas Taglifico of Lyon and Marcos Acuna of Sevilla who have seen it all with the national team. The Midfield is quite opposite compared to the back where there is an almost certainty that it will be the three same players lining up for La Albiceleste. Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea will play alongside Rodrigo De Paul of Atletico Madrid at the base of a midfield triangle. Both players are tough tackling and not afraid to put the hard yards in on the pitch, but have the technical ability to start off any attack. At the front of the triangle is going to be Alexis MacAllister of Liverpool, who is coming off a quite brilliant season in the Premier League. MacAllister has become one of the best all around midfield players in the whole league, doing it all from tackling, exquisite passing, and some quite brilliant goals. A big pressure will be on  MacAllister to really run games for Argentina this summer. Yet again Argentina come into a major tournament with some of the best attacking players in all of world football. Unsurprisingly the attack will be led by the magisterial Messi who will surely be at his magnificent best for the team he loves so much. Supporting Messi is still quite up for discussion with so many talented options. Julian Alvarez of Manchester City was brilliant for Argentina at the 2022 World Cup, but has not played as much as he would hope for his club side, but he has shown how clinical he can be when given the chance. Alejandro Garnacho of Manchester United has been the bright shining light at a somewhat dismal Manchester United team this season. The 19 year old is always looking to create and score using his blistering pace and eye for goal, he even scored an outrageous bicycle kick against Everton in November that has a good chance of winning goal of the year. If a spark is needed Garnacho can surely provide the firepower needed to change any game. Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan is another excellent option up front. Martinez has good experience at club and international level, and just had another great season, helping Inter Milan to win the Scudetto in Italy. Also potential options could come in the form of some more senior players such as Angel Di Maria of Benfica, Angel Correa of Atletico Madrid , Lucas Ocampos of Sevilla, and Paulo Dybala of Roma. All this talent gives the reigning champions plenty of options and plenty of hope to keep this major trophy winning streak alive. It also helps to have arguably the greatest player to play this beautiful game in your ranks, anytime the famous blue and white stripes take the field it’s worth tuning in.