da pinnacle： Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has been suspended and fined by CONMEBOL and Copa America after his halftime antics earlier this week.
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Argentina boss Scaloni suspended and finedCopa America crack-down on halftime anticsPeru suffer same fateWHAT HAPPENED?
Argentina's failure to comply with CONMEBOL rules regarding re-entering the pitch in a timely manner after halftime has seen them hit with a hammer blow. Manager Scaloni has been fined and suspended for their final group stage match against Peru Saturday evening.
La Albiceleste were warned by Copa America officials after their first offense in their opening match against Canada, but after they followed-suit with a delay once again against Chile on Tuesday, CONMEBOL put their foot down.
AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Canada's Jesse Marsch delivered a damning statement following their loss to La Albiceleste, calling for consequences for their actions that he claims handed Argentina a seemingly unfair advantage.
“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 added: "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. Argentina should be fined. They should be fined for coming out 20 minutes late for the second half.”
CONMEBOL themselves took the criticism seriously it seems, and now La Albiceleste will face the consequences. Their opponent Saturday, Peru, will too suffer the same fate. La Blanquirroja manager Ricardo Gareca will also miss the match for the same double-offense.
WHAT ARGENTINA SAID
Assistant coach Walter Samuel, a former Argentina international himself, will take control of the squad at Hard Rock Stadium Saturday evening.
“Lionel 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.”
Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR ARGENTINA?
Argentina will round-out their group stage Saturday evening against Peru. With both head coaches suspended, and the defending champions already through to the knockout round, it will be a highly-contested match as Peru look to pull off a shocking result.