Lionel Scaloni has renewed his contract as coach of Argentina's national football team until the 2030 World Cup, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) confirmed Thursday.
Scaloni's decision to renew his contract was announced by AFA president Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia at a press conference with the 48-year-old manager.
“It is a very special day for the whole Argentine football family; we are going to announce that Lionel Scaloni will remain at the helm of the Argentina national team’s coaching staff,” said Tapia at a press conference.
“This is a source of joy for everyone on the AFA Executive Committee, as well as for all Argentines,” added the AFA chief.
The news brings to an end doubts that had been swirling since this year's World Cup final defeat against Spain.
Scaloni, who led the Albiceleste to victory at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, told reporters he was as enthusiastic as "on day one."
"A new project begins now," he said a month after Lionel Messi, the team's leading light for 20 years, bowed out of international football.
“I’d like to thank the President and everyone at the AFA for placing their trust in me; this is what we all wanted at this moment,” he added.
Tapia said that Scaloni would be the Argentina manager with the most World Cups under his belt – three – by the time his contract ended, should his time in charge go as planned.
Scaloni had cast doubt on his future with the team after Argentina's 1-0 defeat by Spain in a bad-tempered July 19 World Cup final in New Jersey.
He has been coach for eight years, taking over in September 2018, after a traumatic World Cup in Russia, where Argentina were eliminated in the Round of 16.
Scaloni took over one of the most prestigious jobs in football without any prior experience and built the team into one widely considered the best in Argentine history.
Besides the 2022 World Cup he coached Argentina to two Copa América titles, in 2021 and 2024.
He now faces the task of taking the team forward without his 39-year-old talisman Messi.
"What must remain is this team spirit, this feeling of unity among the players and the people," he said after losing the final to Spain.
"We’ve analysed the situation and we can see that there are plenty of players, there’s talent, and we can continue to compete," said the head coach. "The approach to the game will be similar, because we have players who play with the same calibre and that’s the way we like it. There have been some very impressive performances."
Scaloni said that no player would take on Messi’s number 10 shirt for now, not least until the team is forced to use the shirt for a competition or tournament.
There was one snippet of negative news, however. Scaloni confirmed that former international defender Walter Samuel will no longer form part of his coaching staff as he looks to break out into solo management.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
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