BORDEAUX.- Very badly hit after the elimination of Argentina of the Olympic Games of Paris 2024, the technician Javier Mascherano He told AFP on Friday that his team deserved more in the quarter-final match against France and avoided talking about his continuity in the dugout.
The dream of winning his third gold medal, after those won as a footballer in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, was not to be for ‘El Jefecito’ on this occasion.
France, led by Thierry Henry, beat his Albiceleste 1-0 in Bordeaux and will face Egypt in the semi-finals.
Below are excerpts from the AFP interview with Mascherano, 40, after the match.
Q: How do you feel about the tournament?
A: “Sadness, obviously, I think we deserved much more than what we got and well, nothing, football is like that. Unfortunately today the ball didn’t want to go in and we have to leave.”
Q: Were you satisfied with your team’s performance?
A: “You feel satisfied when you get the results you want. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the result we wanted, but I think that if there’s a way to lose, it’s this way, by being us, playing the way we did. We tried in every way, and the team even recovered from the goal it scored early on. Unfortunately, today we couldn’t find the equaliser.”
Q: Your team was carrying the weight of what the senior team, Lionel Messi’s team, had won. What lessons did you learn from this defeat?
A: “We have nothing to do with the senior team, this is a different team. It has more to do with a youth team that, beyond having the three older (players), is a process that we started last year. Unfortunately, we have not been able to win.”
Q: What did it mean to you to coach world champions like Julián Álvarez, Nicolás Otamendi, Gerónimo Rulli and Thiago Almada?
A: “They have helped us a lot. It was a pleasure to have been able to manage four world champions and I am very grateful to them. What happened? We will analyse what was missing. Obviously, one understands that the responsibility is mine, the coach’s.”
Q: Was France a fair winner?
A: “I don’t know if it was fair or not. I think we did more than deserve to score a goal and tie the game, but football doesn’t understand justice either.”
Subsequent irregularities
Q: At the end of the match there was a brawl between delegations. What happened?
A: “One of the French players came to the bench to make gestures.”
Q: Are you going to continue as coach of the national team?
A: “I don’t know, I think it’s not the right time. The sadness is too great today.”
Q: But do you feel strong enough to continue?
A: “I don’t know, it’s not the time to talk.”
