Argentina must focus on day-to-day work, match after match, without getting carried away, because the daily grind is what will ultimately bear fruit. It's also difficult to maintain such a high level of training five days a week, and sometimes we start to slack off. The transition from the World Cup in Qatar, which was almost entirely confined to one city, to the 2026 edition, spread across the United States, Mexico, and Canada, with an additional match required to win the trophy... how does that change the preparation and approach? This is a factor that must be taken into account, because, in addition to the tournament being extended by five or six days, attention must be paid to details. But in tournaments like these, the team finds its best form again and re-motivates itself. Slackening off... do you mean in matches that seem to have no real stakes, like friendlies? It often happens in this type of friendly, and without belittling either side, we realize that we train at a higher intensity every day with our teammates than in the friendly match itself. I believe the key lies in those intense training sessions, and I think that was one of the reasons we won the World Cup. Where does the national team stand right now? I think there's a mix of young players who may lack a little experience, but they have a lot of enthusiasm and a strong desire to wear the national jersey. From traveling to training and match locations, the truth is we haven't discussed the general organization yet... We know we'll be in Kansas City (the main camp), but other than that, we know nothing... On top of that, there's an additional knockout match, and we could be eliminated in the Round of 16 due to a minor detail. Argentina's international defender, Nicolas Tagliafico, said in an interview with AFP that the 'slackening' that sometimes appears among the 'Albiceleste' is the main obstacle the defending champions will have to overcome to retain their crown in the 2026 World Cup. Argentina will play two friendly matches against Mauritania this Friday and Zambia on the 31st of this month, both at La Bombonera stadium in Buenos Aires, which may allow the 33-year-old Lyon defender, with 74 international caps, to equal Juan Pablo Sorin's record (75) and then become the most capped left-back in the history of three-time world champions. Argentina will try to defend its title with the core of the 2022 team and a group of very talented young players. I feel this team is on the right track, although we sometimes feel it slacks off. It's a different World Cup, with many more teams, and I think it will be more competitive. Winning a second consecutive World Cup, along with the 2021 and 2024 Copa América titles, could make (Lionel) Messi's team perhaps the best national team in history... what do you think? Only Brazil and Italy have won back-to-back World Cups, and that was a long time ago... It's a dream, like the dream we had of winning one title.
