In an international friendly held at the Estadio Alberto J. Armando (La Bombonera), the Argentina national team secured a resounding 5-0 victory over Zambia. Despite the lopsided scoreline, the win could not fully overshadow the off-field turmoil. Argentina midfielder Rodrigo De Paul commented on the surrounding issues in his post-match interview.
The context of this match was particularly unusual. Just before kick-off, Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), was prosecuted by judicial authorities on suspicion of embezzling social security funds and tax evasion, with his assets frozen and a travel ban imposed. The news triggered huge public uproar in Argentina and cast a shadow over the national team.
Rodrigo De Paul, the Inter Miami midfielder, came on as a substitute in the game. As he left the stadium, the Argentina international delivered a forceful statement to the cameras, appearing to respond directly to the controversy sparked by Tapia’s prosecution.
Although the reporter’s original question concerned veteran stars Lionel Messi and Nicolás Otamendi, De Paul voluntarily steered the conversation toward the off-field disputes.“We are trying to enjoy everything. Messi and Otamendi are the leaders of this team, and those of us who follow them try to walk in their footsteps and stay on the same path: to come here and play football, to fight for Argentina, to fight for our country’s football. I hope people can understand that.”
De Paul then turned serious.“Sometimes in our country, instead of being united, we create division and controversy. Let me be clear: we are footballers, we are here to play. We do not do politics, nor do we understand those matters. The people who are supposed to handle such things – politicians, as the name suggests – should be the ones dealing with them. We are footballers, and we want to be judged by what we do on the pitch.”
He continued:“We will always strive to defend this national team jersey that we have fought so hard to earn. Defend it on the field. That is the message the team leaders have sent. We are here to play football and defend our country on the pitch.”
De Paul further expressed concern over the current situation and called on outsiders not to disrupt the team’s atmosphere.“I am not referring to any specific incident. Providing information is good, but do not spread false information. The World Cup is two months away, and all we need to do is stay united. It is not a case of everyone taking the credit when we win and all the blame falling on the players when we lose. The balance is clear: we are the main ones responsible on the pitch. But we won the World Cup because the people gave us the push we had been missing. Trying to destroy everything we have built along the way feels unfair to me. We have a foundation, and we cannot go backwards.”
“I am not commenting on anything specific. We are all friends, we all communicate, but this feeling comes naturally, and I thought it appropriate to say it before the World Cup. Winning one title is not easy; winning two is even harder. If we want to do that, we have to stick together.”
Finally, De Paul also spoke about the match itself. On his side’s 5-0 thrashing, he said:“The team performed better today than on Friday against Mauritania. That is football. We might have bad days, but the team always responds. The team was much better today, and we are very happy.”
“We know that to play for the national team, you have to maintain an extremely high level or always deliver when your chance comes. You need team spirit. That is our philosophy: to show what the coach and this jersey demand. We have proven that many times.”
