It was a night for tears. Lionel Messi wept on the pitch, Lionel Scaloni off it. From mildly reproving Pablo Aimar for getting emotional in Qatar to not holding back after the final and in Kansas City, Scaloni is now at ease with being vulnerable in public. “Sometimes football takes over and reminds you that you are also just a human being,” he said after the 3-0 win against Algeria.In his quiet, understated way Lionel Scaloni has built a formidable side where Lionel Messi can play with freedom. (AFP)“I was just proud, emotional and deeply grateful to be witnessing something like that so close,” said Scaloni explaining the tears after Messi’s first World Cup hattrick.Grateful to MessiIt was the first match Argentina won as defending champions in a World Cup. In 1982 they lost to Belgium and eight years later, to Cameroon. And that is one proof of what Scaloni and his staff have forged over the years.Of course, there is a lot to be grateful to Messi (and Algeria goalie Luca Zidane) for the ease with which Argentina negotiated the match against a side who are 28th in the FIFA rankings. Arsene Wenger said it was time the planet stopped comparing Messi to other greats. Miroslav Klose is amazed that Messi, 39 next week, is still influencing games and Diego Simeone was gobsmacked that Argentina’s youngest and oldest goalscorer in a World Cup is one person.Carli Lloyd said on X that this version of Messi can be even more dangerous because he is playing without the burden of expectations. A two-time World Cup and Olympics champion with the USA women’s team, Lloyd has asked the planet to “enjoy every moment while we still can.”For that to happen, the World Cup will need the other Lionel to keep doing what he has been since taking charge in 2018, first as a temp and then on a journey that gave Argentina a World Cup bookended by two Copa America titles the first of which ended their 28-year wait for a major trophy.The start to the 2026 finals has been good. Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister and Rodrigo de Paul covered for Messi. On Tuesday, Messi ran 6.81km. The average distance covered by an Argentina outfield player in that match was between 10.8 to 10.9km, as per FIFA. Argentina’s midfield compensated for Messi’s lack of running by running more. It allowed Messi to choose his moments to light up the evening.Using players to do the running for a teammate isn’t new. That is how Pep Guardiola got the best out of Sergio Aguero and Didier Deschamps has been doing it to keep Kylian Mbappe where he can cause maximum damage.De Paul is key to that and he gets help from Mac Allister, Fernandez and Julian Alvarez. De Paul’s pass for the first goal – taking the midfield out of the equation and creating space for Messi – was as good as the one Toni Kroos played to Vinicius Jr in the 2023-24 Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.Creating this protective shield around Messi is what Scaloni has been successful in unlike his predecessors. Player for player, Argentina may have had a better roster in 2018 but the team were confused and the campaign chaotic.“Can’t direct traffic”Into this stepped Scaloni and Pablo Aimar. He can’t even direct traffic, said Diego Maradona ignoring the fact that Scaloni had earned his coaching badges in Italy. With equanimity, Scaloni accepted that hadn’t coached at this level.Was it because he knew that there can only be one winner in a war of words with Maradona? We don’t know but we got a glimpse of how self-effacing he was in refusing to be compared with Cesar Luis Menotti and Carlos Bilardo. Not after Argentina reached Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten streak during which they hadn’t trailed once. Not even after taking Argentina to the final. And not while topping South American qualifiers this time. Yet,Messi said in Doha, this is a management that leaves little to chance.Along with Roberto Ayala, Walter Samuel and Aimar, Scaloni rebuilt the team. Young players like Emiliano Martinez, De Paul, Cristian Romero, Leandro Parades became an integral part of the squad. They still are. And it was after they decided on a way of playing did Scaloni reach out to Messi and ask him to be part of his plans. Not unlike how Joao Saldanha got Pele back for Brazil for the 1970 finals.Band of brothersDefensive solidity was key to Argentina’s run to the last World Cup and then to the final after the shock loss to Saudi Arabia. After the poor start, Scaloni gave Fernandez, Alvarez and Mac Allister game time and that helped get the best out of Messi. In the semi-final, he used four central midfielders to suffocate Croatia in the area they love to dominate. In being flexible, Scaloni was doing what Carlo Ancelotti (his reference point as coach) did with great success at Real Madrid. And what Mario Zagallo did by getting Tostao and Pele to play together. It is the hallmark of a good coach.As is the ability to forge a band of brothers. “If you get along better with the one beside you, things are bound to be better, especially in tough times,” Scaloni, 48, has said. Nowhere was this more evident than in Doha after the loss to Saudi Arabia. It also explains why Messi thanked the team and staff on Wednesday for helping him deal with “difficult days.”Against Algeria, Argentina had players seamlessly slipping into different roles with little gap between them to increase passing options.Through the wobble and the wonderful run in Qatar, Scaloni was the epitome of restraint. He attributes calm of mind to hours of cycling in Spain or Argentina, a hobby he took up after retiring from football on the advice of his friend and 1998 French Open winner Carlos Moya. The sun will rise tomorrow was one his pet lines at press conferences in disaster and triumph.Defending champions tend to become caricatures of their earlier avatars, Brazil and Didier Deschamps’s France being exceptions to the rule. There will be tougher tests for sure but should Argentina join them, it will be because of Messi and their other Lionel.PLAY OF THE WEEK