Argentine national team head coach Lionel Scaloni feels that while it was hard for him to leave Joaquin Correa out of the squad due to injury, it was for the best of the team.
Speaking at a press conference at the World Cup, as reported by FCInterNews, Scaloni spoke about the decision to drop the 28-year-old from the 26-player squad for the tournament due to a lack of fitness.
Correa had initially been included in Argetina’s provisional squad for the World Cup, but dropped out after suffering an injury during the Albiceleste’s warm-up friendly against Saudi Arabia.
As Scaloni explained, it was not easy to take the decision to head into the tournament without the former Lazio, Sevilla, and Sampdoria forward who has been an important player for Argentina in attack.
However, the coach decided that it would not be for the best of the team as a whole to go on with a player who is not fully fit.
“They couldn’t give us any guarantee that they would be fit enough,” Scaloni said when asked about the decision to drop Correa and Fiorentina winger Nico Gonzalez.
“It’s a tough decision, but we have to think about the best for the team.”
“Two other players who are fit took their place, and they will give their contribution,” the coach added.
