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Lionel Scaloni has been suspended for one game by CONMEBOL’s disciplinary committee and will not coach Argentina’s next match against Peru on Saturday night in Miami.
Scaloni’s suspension is due to players reentering the pitch late after halftime of Argentina’s previous game against Chile last Tuesday. The Argentina Football Association (AFA) was also fined $15,000.
Chile’s manager Ricardo Gareca received the same suspension and will miss their final group-stage game against Canada.
Assistant coach and former national team defender Walter Samuel will now take charge of the team at Hard Rock Stadium.
“Lionel (Scaloni) is upset about this,” Samuel told reporters. “We consider ourselves to be staff with a lot of professionalism.
“We found out today. It was a blow. Sometimes you’re talking about a small detail. We weren’t trying to find an advantage. Now we have to focus on the next match and move forward.”
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In Argentina’s first Copa America match against Canada on July 20, Lionel Messi and teammates, plus the coaching staff, did not immediately reenter the pitch after halftime.
CONMEBOL protocols dictate a warning for a first offence before a ban and fine for a second so when players again emerged late, against Chile on Tuesday, disciplinary action was taken.
Canada’s players and the referees waited several minutes before Argentina finally reappeared. In his postgame press conference, head coach Jesse Marsch criticized Argentina for delaying their re-entry.
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“When they were waiting, I knew that they were looking at video and they were analyzing how they wanted to play against us,” Marsch said. “Now, I wish again, the referees would manage that. If we were five minutes late, we’d get a fine. There’d be a big problem. Let’s see what happens with Argentina. I think they have to be fined.”
Marsch then joked that Argentina had waited nearly 30 minutes to reemerge from their dressing room. In reality, Argentina were late by nearly four minutes. The score was 0-0 at halftime. Argentina went on to win the match 2-0.
“They had that time to prepare how they wanted to play against us in the second half, which if we would have known ahead of time that we could have an extra 10 minutes then we could have prepared some things more,” Marsch said. “Argentina should be fined. They should be fined for coming out 20 minutes late for the second half.”
Argentina will finish top of Group A with a draw at Hard Rock Stadium. They would then play the runner-up in Group B on July 4 in Houston.
Messi won’t play in Miami and is “day-to-day” with an injury picked up in the second group-stage game against Chile on Tuesday.
(Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
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