In 2018, the Argentinean football team was a mess. Lack of unity in the squad, sacked manager, and the fanbase completely out of patience. Their solution was Lionel Scaloni, a man with seven international caps, barely a year of coaching experience, and zero big jobs to his name. Even the great Diego Maradona laughed. The players were not sure what to make of it either.

Rodrigo De Paul admitted years later that there was genuine mistrust in the dressing room when Scaloni first walked in. The board kept renewing his contract in short bursts, like they were renting him month to month and had not decided whether to commit.

Scaloni's response to all of this was, essentially, nothing.

When journalists pressed him about his inexperience, he answered that it did not bother him because it was simply the truth. He was not going to pretend otherwise.

His first big call was Messi. In 2018, picking Messi was not the obvious move it sounds now. Argentine fans had turned on him. The press called his generation "The Friends Club," a group of overrated millionaires who showed up for club football and went missing for their country.

Scaloni could have quietly rebuilt around younger players and given himself some cover.

Instead, he rang Messi before his own appointment as a coach was even announced. Messi laughed, said he was happy, and wished him well. Just like that, the most important relationship in Argentine football was sorted over a phone call.

Then came 2026, and Scaloni did something even bolder.

Messi, at 38, carrying a hamstring injury, was still publicly undecided about whether he wanted to play at all. Most coaches would have made the decision themselves.

Scaloni went to the press and said, "It's not me who decides. He has earned the right to decide calmly."

He then built the entire pre-tournament schedule around managing Messi's recovery, training him separately, adjusting day by day.

The thing about Scaloni that genuinely baffles people is how calm he is. Other managers run around the touchline, scream at the pitchside official, and throw water bottles. Scaloni mostly watches, analysing the game, keeping his head calm and always trying to one-up the opposition.

Even in celebrations, Scaloni remains as nonchalant as one can be, as was clearly displayed in his demeanour after Argentina won the World Cup Final of 2022, the biggest prize in football.

Ionically, looking at Scaloni, one would assume they had just won a friendly match.

His players praise how he tells each person exactly what their role is, whether they are Messi or a 22-year-old nobody outside Argentina has heard of.

If someone is to be credited for the success of Argentina, it is their coach.

Copa America 2021. World Cup 2022. Copa America 2024. Three trophies in four years for a country that had won nothing in twenty-eight!

The man they handed a six-month rolling contract to, the one Maradona mocked publicly, is now the most successful Argentine coach in a generation.