KANSAS CITY - Despite his recent struggles, Lionel Messi will continue to take Argentina's penalty kicks unless he decides not to, according to Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni.
"First of all, Leo will take penalties if he wants to," Scaloni said Friday in his press conference the day before Argentina's FIFA World Cup quarterfinal matchup with Switzerland. "We have other players capable of taking them, but if he wants to take them, he'll take them."
Messi has missed both of his penalty attempts in this summer's tournament, and he's converted only four of his last seven for Argentina dating back to the 2022 World Cup. But Scaloni suggested Messi's legacy and excellent recent form had earned him the right to make his own decision on the issue.
Scaloni also reassured that Messi has the freedom to roam around positionally to look for possible advantages, as he did in the last minutes of Argentina's 3-2 win over Egypt when he drifted out to the right.
"In truth, these days he usually plays much more centrally," Scaloni said, "but our entire team -- and especially the players who move around him -- play in relation to him. That's normal. It happened naturally within the flow of the game. The team realized that he was creating danger from that side, especially because he was able to find passes into the opposite side where teammates could arrive. I think that became very clear."
Messi assisted Argentina's first goal against Egypt, then scored the game-tying goal as well, giving him eight goals and one assist from 15 chances created over 410 minutes in the tournament. Even with penalty struggles, he's scored 15 goals with four assists from 36 chances created in the last two World Cups. Despite Messi's age -- he turned 39 on June 24 -- Scaloni doesn't see much difference in his recent physical output.
"Leo runs pretty much the same amount he always has," Scaloni said.
"It's not that he's running significantly more or less. The difference is that now everything he does is much more decisive. ... Maybe it surprises people who don't know him, who expected that at 39 he wouldn't still be at this level. I've said it many times: As long as he wants to keep playing, he'll be the best. That's what I believe. Not because I'm his coach. As long as he still has the desire, he'll remain the best."
Scaloni said he has been pleased with his team's overall performance in their two dramatic knockout round victories.
"Against Cape Verde we deserved to win, but it still took us 120 minutes. The team created a lot of chances and made a few isolated mistakes. Against Egypt I think we actually played even better. We created even more chances and again only made a couple of isolated mistakes. From the standpoint of our football and creating opportunities, I think the team is in good shape."
When asked about recent accusations from Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan regarding officiating favoritism toward the defending world champions, Scaloni dismissed the claims, saying this isn't anything new.
"Honestly, people have been saying those kinds of things about Argentina for a very long time," he said. "Back in 1986 [when Diego Maradona won the tournament], people also said Argentina received favorable treatment."
Argentina benefited from a VAR intervention when an Egypt goal was disallowed for a foul earlier in the play, but in Scaloni's view, the correct call was made.
"The officiating has been very clear. Before the World Cup began, the referees showed everyone exactly how the rules would be interpreted. They said, 'This is how it will be called. This is how it will be called.' And that's exactly what's happened.
"Maybe sometimes people think a little more should have been called, or a little less. But there hasn't been any change in interpretation. There isn't another way to read it. Social media magnifies everything. That's where the debates begin. But there hasn't been any favoritism. Quite the opposite. Nowadays, it's actually very difficult for favoritism to exist."
