Argentina’s Copa America campaign has hit a minor bump as coach Lionel Scaloni has been suspended for one match. This means he won’t be on the sidelines for their final group stage match against Peru on Saturday.
Why was Lionel Scaloni suspended in the first case? Well, the team’s come back to the field for the second half of the match was apparently late in both games so far; 2-0 against Canada and the recent 1-0 against Chile. This consisted of coming late for Copa America matches; any coach was allowed one Welfare Violation during the tournament, and a second meant that Scaloni had to sit out the next match. He is also restricted from going to the press conference that is conducted after a team plays.
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Notably, Ricardo Gareca, the coach of Chile also received the same punishment for a similar reason. Their team will also have a group stage match on Saturday against the team of Canada.
Of course, the one-game loss of a coach is not a tragedy for Argentina because they have already advanced to the knockout stage of the Copa America. Coach Lionel Scaloni will be missing the Peru match where assistant coach Walter Samuel will be in charge. He complained about the suspension during the press conference saying that the coaching staff do not take themselves as indiscipline and rarely was suspension given to any of them.
Therefore, what are the precise regulations concerning the re-emergence of the players onto the field during the half-time break? Copa America regulations are clear: players and teams need to get back to the field at a particular time as required. The first offense is punished merely by a warning where as the second offense is punishable and Argentina and Chile realized this bitterly.
As discouraging as it may look, these trivial segregations inconvenience the game, and dishonor the other team. Canada’s players themselves complained loudly about this Argentine alibi for lateness for a match.
Meanwhile, in the Copa America, Argentina will only require a draw against Peru to secure the top position in Group A. This clash will be their last game in the group stage. Notably, the defending champions Argentina will be thirsting for more wins and potentially want to win back-to-back Copa America.
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