Lionel Scaloni has been handed a one-match suspension and will not coach Argentina against Peru

Lionel Scaloni has been suspended for one match by the CONMEBOL disciplinary committee and will not coach in Argentina’s next match against Peru on Saturday evening in Miami.

Scaloni’s suspension comes after the players returned to the pitch late after half-time in Argentina’s previous match against Chile last Tuesday. The Argentine Football Federation (AFA) was also fined $15,000.

Chile manager Ricardo Gareca was suspended in the same manner and will miss the final group stage match against Canada.

Assistant coach and former national team defender Walter Samuel will now take over as the team’s head coach at Hard Rock Stadium.

“Lionel (Scaloni) is angry about it,” Samuel told reporters. “We consider ourselves a highly professional staff.

“We found out today. It was a blow. Sometimes you talk about a small detail. We didn’t try to find an advantage. Now we have to focus on the next game and move forward.”

During Argentina’s first Copa America match against Canada on July 20, Lionel Messi and his teammates, as well as the coaching staff, did not take to the pitch immediately after the break.

CONMEBOL protocols stipulate a warning for a first offence before a ban and a penalty for a second, so when the players again showed up late for Tuesday’s match against Chile, disciplinary action was taken.

Canada’s players and referees waited several minutes before Argentina finally showed up. In the post-match press conference, coach Jesse Marsch criticized Argentina for delaying the return.

“While they were waiting, I knew they were watching video and analyzing how they wanted to play against us,” Marsch said. “Now I regret again that the judges didn’t deal with it. If we are five minutes late, we will get a penalty. It would be a big problem. We’ll see what happens with Argentina. I think they should be punished.”

Marsch then joked that Argentina waited almost 30 minutes to come out of the locker room again. In fact, Argentina were almost four minutes late. By halftime the score was 0-0. Argentina won the match 2-0.

“They had time to prepare to play against us in the second half, if we had known in advance that we might have an extra 10 minutes, we could have prepared better,” Marsch said. “Argentina should be fined. They should be fined for starting the second half 20 minutes late.”

Argentina will finish top of Group A with a draw at Hard Rock Stadium before playing the Group B runner-up on July 4 in Houston.

Messi will not play in Miami and is struggling “day by day” with an injury he sustained on Tuesday in the second group stage match against Chile.

(Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)