Copa America 2024 Discussion

I do not think it is that surprising. At the 23-man roster, some of us said he probably would not go. At 26, there was more of a chance. But there certainly was not. There are 29 names here, and I do not think Scaloni wanted to patronize him and add him to the list where he would not take him. I think he respects Paulo too much for that.

But Dybala is in purgatory, which has been the case since he has played for us. Dybala occupies spaces that Messi roams around and he's certainly not going to send him to the bench. Dybala cannot pressure like Julian or Lautaro. He does not have the speed of a winger. So what does he bring to the table for Scaloni? A solid penalty taker?

I remember when we were up 2-0 v the Aussies and just coasting. He was warming up and was going to come on where he would get 20-25 minutes. But a fluke goal went in and he was sent back to the bench. And the the last time he got minutes was late v France, where he cleared the ball and scored his penalty.

It would be great to have him there, but again, for Scaloni, you have to bring something to the table. Maybe if this was a CA where there were 4 group games, maybe, but Scaloni likely has a list of strengths a player has and what he can do to help the side.

Plus, Dybala is an injury risk. I am a major fan of his, and have posted him about since 2013-2014 but he fell into an era where he had to stand on the sidelines for Messi... Maybe if he was 23-24, Scaloni would take him but at 30, he just does not fit into Scaroni's plans.

But I will say this much. I hope we have NOT seen Paulo for the last time. He'd probably deserve a farewell with the other players because I do not think he makes it to the 2026. I think he will play in Europe for another 3-4 seasons and will probably end up at Inter Miami. He vacations in Miami quite frequently and that's where he will end up.

 

The only logical reason I can think Dybala has not been picked is his tendency to pick up injuries, but purely on form he should be in the squad. But hey ho, can't really criticise Scaloni, I mean he's not done too bad since becoming manager

 

I think Paulo is quite upset about it. Before all of this, he said he wanted to go to the tournament because this was the only national team trophy he had not yet won. Today he posted a picture of his three player of the month awards from this season. So, yes, he is being a bit passive aggressive and one perhaps cannot blame him.

As hobbled as he's been this season, he had 13 goals and 9 assists. Not too shabby.


On a lighter note... Twitter is breaking balls by saying the reason why Dybala is not taken to the CA is because Scaloni has found out that Dybala is actually the legitimate father.

 

Lol, the secret is out. You can't blame Dybala for being upset by his omission, he's had a very good season, much better than a lot of the players who have been chosen. Don't want to go on about it, but doesn't make sense from a football perspective.

 

There's a long interview with him from last year I think where he said he wanted to go to CA. Obviously he's going to be upset. In bigger picture though , he's still a WC winner, won finalissima aswell. He already achieved more than all Argentine players between 1994-2020. He's also looking really upset when he was subtituted by Angelito in Copa 2019 third place game in which he scored the winner.

I dont see any reason why he's not on the squad other than being injury prone. I know Angelito used to have that issue aswell, but he hasnt get any major injury for many years. Dybala injury is as frequent as Messi scoring prowess. The away game against Uruguay in qualifier for intense, he won the ball in midfield and setup Di Maria for the winning goal but then he couldnt make it into the second half just because of a knock.

 

Why the hell did they implement this stupid rule of matches going straight to PK in the knockout stages? Thats the biggest suprise for me. This just means that weaker teams will camp and defend and hope for PK. What a silly and backward rule.

Bit disappointed that Scaloni has decided to go with aging players and almost the same players from the WC. He talks about focusing on the future and giving youngsters chance, but still brings with him Guido, Nico Gonzalez who i still dont know what he is good at and Pezzella. I Still remember the horrendous performances he had in WC, giving away the freekick that led to the goal against holland and Argentina conceding in the final minutes when he came on. Dont wanna be too negative, but im a bit disappointed by the whole thing.

 

If Dybala has not been selected for football reasons, how the hell does A. Correa get selected ahead of him!

 

Remember, at the end of the day, its a friend`s club. As much as Scaloni has some power, many of the players have huge influence as well. Rodri de paul, Paredes, Messi etc

 

I’m all for taking Dybala to the tournament. I’m just trying to see this through the scope of Scaloni.

 

I think it will be hard for Argentina to be regarded as a legendary NT even if they win another Copa, cuz for most people, they don’t know any of the players besides Messi & Di Maria.

Another reason is that they failed to blow teams out in big tournaments, look at the Copa America, the 2022 qualifiers, the World Cup, most games were won by 1-2 goal difference, very few games won by 3+ goals.

It is unfortunate because if you don’t rate the players based on their name and don’t look at the score line, Argentina played some of the nicest attacking football I have seen, not just in the last 3-4 years, but in terms of fluidity and effectiveness, up there in history.

 

I will give him credit, he was bold during the most crucial moments in the WC and he got every move right except the Pezzella substitution.

But honestly, it seems for his coaching staff, it always takes an injury for him to make bold choices.

He isn’t someone to make a bold move when everyone is fit, say both Otamendi and Balerdi are fully fit and playing at a high level, he doesn’t have the ruthlessness in him to tell Otamendi “you were an irreplaceable player for me in the past, but I believe Balerdi’s qualities will suit the starting XI better.”

 

Well, the Europeans will say it is not as high level winning the Copa America as Euros.

It is true in some sense, like Bolivia, Panama, Jamaica and Costa Rica are really bad teams.

But there are many players in LPF and Serie A who are really good, it’s just Europeans don’t know about them cuz they don’t get coverage.

 

And when Spain won their World Cup, they beat everybody in the KO stages 1-0. It took them to be up a man-up and a 116th minute strike from Iniesta to capture the title. I’ve said it before, every single team that wins the World Cup will face uphill battles.

And who cares what the Europeans have to say?

 

The Argentine players have to work extra hard, but already after the WC a lot of the players who are just beginning or half way through their careers are already on their way to becoming legendary players. You are comparing DiMaria and Messi who have 12 years plus on almost most of the young players.

Spain and Italy have european players, they will alwyas overhype them more because of regional bias. Spain became popular before the world cup because of the succesful Barca la masia players.

Argentina gets together like the avengers, and on an idividual level do their own thing..
As time grows these Argentine players will become their own legends.

Riquleme, year after year, he developed his legendary status. Even though people didn't think much of him at first. The world snobs and euro snobs. Eventually he became a legend without an international trophy becaues they saw fans saw the beauty in his game.

In hindsight:

Europe likes to take and pick the talent they want from Argentina. Break our domestic teams up from every becoming strong, as our domestic teams are forced to roll the dice or sell their players. Meanwhile european teams build their teams and create legendary teams and already legendary teams get stronger, win more trophies, allowing their club players to become legendary.

If Argentina was a strong as Germany in the domestic league, the Argentine league would be one of the best in the world. Just by keeping the players in the league itself.

 

dybala should've been included.

 

Like these guys...

 

Aren't the vast majority of Argentinians of Italian descent?

 

I mean, sure but if we are going to play that game, people from Southern Italy and Sicily can claim Greek hertiage because of the Magna Graecia.