Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni admitted he was still coming to terms with the impact of hydration breaks introduced to combat the intense heat at the World Cup as the defending champions prepare to take on Austria on Monday.
The teams meet at the Dallas Stadium in their second Group J match after both started their group campaigns with a win last week, and the mid-match breaks remain in place despite the match being played indoors.
“Everything I have in my head can change depending on these 22, 23 minutes,” Scaloni told reporters on Sunday of the disruption caused by the breaks. «We have people who analyze the game and we look for solutions. That’s what you do in normal halftime.»
«It’s for those who want to attack, because you can adjust certain things. It’s weird to adjust to that. It’s something that, if we do it more, it will become normal. I don’t think it’s normal for us anymore.»
«We try to analyze and correct things. Sometimes the match changes in the first period itself and you can adjust certain things. I understand that it will change.»
Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to guide Argentina to a 3-0 win over Algeria. Another win against the Austrians would secure the title holder a place in the next stage of the competition.
The Austrians, coached by Ralf Rangnick, started the tournament with a 2-1 victory over Jordan.
“Austria have very good players, they are a great team, high pressing, vertical team,” Scaloni said. «We have seen that they are an opponent that we have to take into account. It will be complicated.»
«We both won our opening match, so that might make the show better. It will be tough and in the World Cup there is no easy match, even if there are more matches. The group stage has always been difficult.»
Despite a series of surprising results in the early stages of the competition, Scaloni expects the established countries to emerge victorious in the tournament.
“The big powers will be there, there are many who can compete and this is without a doubt going to be a tough World Cup,” he said.
«Even if you have played a great game, you have to highlight something that is not great and I believe every coach does this logically. Like every team, we have our weaknesses and hopefully they will not find them.»
Published on June 22, 2026
