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Jorge Sampaoli had the shadow of a usual optimist when he addressed his last post-game press conference of the World Cup after the defeat 4-3 of Argentina against France in the round of 16 on Saturday.
France has ended an Argentine campaign that seemed far from convincing since its departure against Iceland.
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A dysfunctional midfielder and a fragile defense have little helped build on one of the world's finest attacks, the team of Sampaoli winning only one victory – In four games in Russia.
"I am convinced that Argentine football has very, very good players, and very, very good young players, so we will have to work on them to be one of the first teams in the world again." [19659002] In the past two weeks, Sampaoli has faced severe criticism for his tactics. His failure to make the most of Lionel Messi, whose game position has never emerged from blatant confusion, has also seen Sampaoli deal with the anger of fans and media at home.
But while the release of La Albiceleste will likely culminate in Sampaoli's kidnapping, the decay goes well beyond him and the senior national team of Argentina.
Argentina's struggles during the World Cup qualifiers highlighted the lack of balance of the team. Unlike other football superpowers, the Argentine side had little to show for preventing its players from attacking.
For years, the South American nation has struggled to produce a steady stream of footballers for elite football. In addition to providing some European clubs with some of his best talents, the country's production line of elite midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers has suffered from decadence.
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In Russia, Argentina brought the fourth oldest team among the 32 teams with an average age of 29.3. Of their 23 players, 14 were 30 or more and only three less than 25. While the team's experience has never been questioned, it remains that it was a aging team, one in decline, as she tried to add to both "The street has always been our school, which had the great virtue of teaching us the craft, to give cultural weight to football and develop and to celebrate players who were different.But the street as a training stage has disappeared and no one has been able to replace it with an educational model like in countries like Germany or Germany. 39, Spain ", commented Jorge Valdano, star of the World Cup in 1986.
Argentina was unable to qualify for the U-17 World Cup in India last year after eliminated in the first leg of the South American Championship, where they finished fourth in a group of five teams.
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They reached the U-20 World Cup, qualifying as the fourth best team on the continent. In the main tournament, Argentina collapsed after losing its first two group matches, to England and South Korea.
There will be a post-mortem in the coming weeks as Argentina returns to one of its lowest points. in recent years. But a long-term revision may be necessary for the two world champions to regain their marks.
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