Cómo Nico Paz Hará Que Argentina Dé MIEDO Otra Vez — Transcript

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1. 0:00On October 15, 2024, a 20-year-old kid
2. 0:02debuted for Argentina and gave an
3. 0:05assist to Messi. Almost two years later
4. 0:07, Messi said goodbye to the national
5. 0:09team, and one of his last two assists
6. 0:11went to that same kid. His name is Nico
7. 0:14Paz. And what happened in that match is
8. 0:16the best summary of what's to come. On
9. 0:18Tuesday at the Monumental, Argentina
10. 0:20beat Benin 3-0. Messi provided two
11. 0:22assists, scored a penalty, and reached
12. 0:24126 goals for the national team. And
13. 0:26the middle goal was by Paz in the 61st
14. 0:28minute, with his left foot off a pass
15. 0:30from Messi. Argentina has just lost
16. 0:32Messi, as well as Otamendi, who retired
17. 0:34from the national team. Of the 17
18. 0:36players who played in the World Cup
19. 0:38final, only two will be under 30 in
20. 0:402030. That sounds like the end of an
21. 0:42era. For the team that won the 2022
22. 0:45World Cup and was one goal away from
23. 0:47winning in 2026, time is running out.
24. 0:49But there is a problem with that idea
25. 0:51because Argentina lacks exactly what
26. 0:53Paz knows how to do. Look at what he
27. 0:55did last season. Nico Paz scored 12
28. 0:57goals and provided seven assists in
29. 0:59Serie A with Como; counting all
30. 1:01competitions, 13 goals and eight
31. 1:03assists in 40 matches. He was chosen as
32. 1:05the best midfielder of the 2025-26
33. 1:07Serie A season. A year earlier, he had
34. 1:10been the best U23 player in the league,
35. 1:12and the Como side he leads as the
36. 1:13number 10 qualified for the Champions
37. 1:15League for the first time—a historic
38. 1:17achievement for the club. And mind you,
39. 1:19this isn't just recent. In February
40. 1:202025 against Fiorentina, he received
41. 1:22the ball at the edge of the box,
42. 1:24controlled it, and placed a left-footed
43. 1:26shot into the top corner. He had six
44. 1:28goals and three assists in 23 matches,
45. 1:30with three goals in his last five. All
46. 1:33that at 20 years old in a league that
47. 1:35gives nothing away, and according to
48. 1:36Transfermarkt, he is worth about 80
49. 1:38million euros today. So, why did he
50. 1:40play so little for Argentina in the
51. 1:42World Cup? That is the question,
52. 1:44because in the World Cup, Paz played
53. 1:45about 70 minutes in total, and
54. 1:47Argentina lost the final 1-0 against
55. 1:48Spain. We are going to see what Paz has
56. 1:51that Argentina doesn't have right now,
57. 1:53why his profile is exactly what this
58. 1:55team without Messi is missing, what
59. 1:57could hold him back—because something
60. 1:59could—and what needs to happen for
61. 2:01Argentina to be the team nobody wants
62. 2:02to face again in 2028 and 2030. Let's
63. 2:05see it. Nico Paz was born in Tenerife,
64. 2:07Spain, in September 2004. His mother is
65. 2:10Spanish. His father, Pablo Paz, was an
66. 2:12Argentine player and played in the 1998
67. 2:14World Cup. He could have chosen Spain,
68. 2:17a country that currently has the best
69. 2:19generation in the world, but he chose
70. 2:21Argentina. He joined Real Madrid's
71. 2:23youth system at age 11, played eight
72. 2:25matches for the first team, and in 2024
73. 2:27he left for Como, where Cesc Fàbregas
74. 2:29made him a starter. His debut with
75. 2:31Argentina was on October 15, 2024,
76. 2:34against Bolivia in a 6-0 win. He came
77. 2:37off the bench and provided an assist to
78. 2:39Messi. His first goal came almost a
79. 2:41year and a half later, on March 27,
80. 2:432026, a free kick against Mauritania in
81. 2:45a 2-1 win, and then the World Cup
82. 2:47arrived. Paz debuted against Algeria,
83. 2:50coming on for Messi in the final 10
84. 2:51minutes. He started against Jordan and
85. 2:54played an hour in the 3-1 win, but
86. 2:55didn't play a single minute in the five
87. 2:57qualifying matches. He remained on the
88. 2:59bench even for the final, and after
89. 3:01losing it, he posted a message. He
90. 3:03promised to give everything to bring
91. 3:04the cup back to Argentina. Before
92. 3:06talking about Paz, one must understand
93. 3:08what Argentina has left, and it's not a
94. 3:09small amount. In the back, they have
95. 3:11Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martínez.
96. 3:12In the midfield, Enzo Fernández and
97. 3:14Mac Allister. Up front, Lautaro
98. 3:16Martínez and Julián Álvarez, but
99. 3:18that team is no longer the one from
100. 3:202022. Otamendi is 38 and retired from
101. 3:23the national team. Dibu Martínez has
102. 3:25hinted that he could follow that path.
103. 3:27Paredes, 32, has also hinted at his
104. 3:29retirement, and De Paul's future has
105. 3:32been linked to Messi's. Messi announced
106. 3:34his departure on August 31 after 21
107. 3:36years with the national team. He left
108. 3:38the number 10 jersey and said goodbye
109. 3:40as the top scorer in Argentina's
110. 3:41history. And the World Cup final made
111. 3:43it clear. Argentina lost 1-0 and didn't
112. 3:46score a single goal. A team with a
113. 3:48defense, a midfield, and strikers, but
114. 3:50without the player who connects
115. 3:52everything. The first reason is the
116. 3:54position. Paz is 1.85 meters tall,
117. 3:56left-footed, and plays as an attacking
118. 3:57midfielder. In fact, that is how
119. 3:59Scaloni played him when he started in
120. 4:01the World Cup against Jordan. A modern
121. 4:03number 10: he dribbles, creates the
122. 4:05pass, and also finishes. And my
123. 4:07assessment is this. That is what
124. 4:09Argentina does not have. Enzo, Mac
125. 4:11Allister, and De Paul are midfielders
126. 4:13who recover, drive, and run. They are
127. 4:15very good, but none of them is a true
128. 4:17playmaker. Messi was the last one. When
129. 4:19he left, not only did a player leave,
130. 4:21but a position did too, and Paz is one
131. 4:23of the few who can fill it. For a team
132. 4:26that currently plays without a man
133. 4:28between the lines, that is exactly what
134. 4:30is missing. The second reason is his
135. 4:32shot. Paz has something rarely seen in
136. 4:34attacking midfielders: he hits from
137. 4:35distance with his left foot. We saw it
138. 4:37against Fiorentina, we saw it in his
139. 4:39first goal for Argentina from a free
140. 4:41kick, and we saw it against Benin with
141. 4:43a left-footed strike. And look at what
142. 4:45that means for an opponent. If you let
143. 4:47Paz receive the ball, he hurts you. If
144. 4:49you mark him tightly, space opens up.
145. 4:51If you drop back, he shoots from
146. 4:53distance. It's the same problem Messi
147. 4:55used to cause for defenses. You don't
148. 4:57know what he's going to do, and any
149. 4:59decision could be the wrong one. I'm
150. 5:01not saying Paz is Messi; nobody is. I'm
151. 5:03saying he knows how to create that
152. 5:05doubt in the opponent, which can't be
153. 5:06taught, and for a national team that
154. 5:08just lost its best finisher and
155. 5:10couldn't score in the final, that is
156. 5:12gold. The third reason is that Paz
157. 5:14never stops improving. In his first
158. 5:16season at Como, he was the best U23
159. 5:17player in Serie A; in his second, the
160. 5:19best midfielder in the whole league
161. 5:21regardless of age, and at Como, he is
162. 5:23coached by Cesc Fábregas. Cesc was a
163. 5:26midfielder who, according to the press,
164. 5:28saw the game seconds before everyone
165. 5:30else, and now he gets to teach that to
166. 5:32a kid who plays the same position. With
167. 5:34Como, he has 81 games and 20 goals. For
168. 5:37a 22-year-old attacking midfielder,
169. 5:38that's a very high output. And before
170. 5:41the World Cup, when De Paul was asked
171. 5:42which young player to follow, he said,
172. 5:44"I'm sticking with an Argentine." Nico
173. 5:46Paz. A world champion who played
174. 5:48alongside Messi. He chose Paz, and this
175. 5:49campaign started the same way. Starting
176. 5:52in all six games so far this season
177. 5:54with 510 minutes, one goal, and three
178. 5:55assists. The fourth reason is a
179. 5:58decision that almost nobody talks about
180. 5:59. Paz could have returned to Real
181. 6:01Madrid. He had a 9 million euro
182. 6:04buy-back clause, but Como paid 60
183. 6:06million euros to remove those
184. 6:08conditions, and Paz renewed until 2028.
185. 6:11His explanation was simple. He thought
186. 6:14he would grow more there, and Madrid
187. 6:15still has an option to sign him next
188. 6:17summer for 80 million euros. That means
189. 6:20something for Argentina. Paz is playing
190. 6:22every week as a number 10, with
191. 6:24confidence and a coach who understands
192. 6:26him. He isn't waiting for his turn on
193. 6:28the bench of a giant, and for a player
194. 6:30who wants to be the centerpiece of a
195. 6:31national team, that matters a lot. And
196. 6:33most importantly, time is on his side.
197. 6:36Argentina has two key dates: the 2028
198. 6:38Copa América, where they will seek
199. 6:40their third in a row, and the 2030
200. 6:41World Cup. Paz will be 23 and 25 years
201. 6:45old; plus, Tantuono is 19, Giuliano
202. 6:47Simeone is 23, and the U20s reached the
203. 6:502025 World Cup final, even though they
204. 6:52lost to Morocco. There is talent. Messi
205. 6:55left after 21 years, leaving the number
206. 6:5710 free. No one has said yet who will
207. 7:00wear it. Paz is among the candidates
208. 7:02along with Mastantuono, Almada, Mac
209. 7:03Allister, and Enzo. Scaloni had already
210. 7:05said he would rebuild the team little
211. 7:07by little, and now he has no other
212. 7:08choice. With Paz, that reconstruction
213. 7:11has a starting point, and unlike other
214. 7:13replacements, he already knows how to
215. 7:14play with Messi. But let's not make
216. 7:17this a fairy tale. The first issue is
217. 7:19playing time. In the World Cup, Paz
218. 7:21played about 70 minutes in total and
219. 7:23didn't appear in any qualifiers. The
220. 7:25second is Scaloni. His contract ends in
221. 7:28December. It was said he had agreed to
222. 7:30an extension until 2030, but after the
223. 7:33final, he cast doubts on his future.
224. 7:35And if he leaves, the next coach might
225. 7:37have different ideas. The third is the
226. 7:39competition. Mastantuono, Almada, Mac
227. 7:42Allister, and Enzo want the same spot.
228. 7:45The fourth is the weight of the number.
229. 7:47And I mean it, being Messi's heir is a
230. 7:49pressure almost no one has had to carry
231. 7:51. And there is another risk, which is
232. 7:53the opposite of what it seems: Paz
233. 7:55leaving. Madrid has their 80-million
234. 7:58option, and if he returns, he’d have
235. 7:59to fight for a spot in a squad full of
236. 8:01midfielders instead of being the center
237. 8:03of the team. And a player who plays
238. 8:05little at his club arrives at the
239. 8:07national team with less rhythm. And one
240. 8:09more: Serie A is not the Champions
241. 8:11League, and Paz still has to prove he
242. 8:13can do it at the highest level. But
243. 8:16none of this changes the main thing:
244. 8:18that Argentina lacks a playmaker and
245. 8:20Paz is a playmaker. So, what needs to
246. 8:22happen for Argentina to be feared again
247. 8:24? Three things. First, that Paz is a
248. 8:26starter—not a substitute or an option
249. 8:28off the bench, but a starter. Second,
250. 8:31that Scaloni or whoever replaces him
251. 8:33builds the team around a true attacking
252. 8:36midfielder. And third, that Paz keeps
253. 8:38growing where he is or wherever he
254. 8:40truly plays. That he plays the
255. 8:42Champions League with his club, makes a
256. 8:44difference again, and reaches 2028 at
257. 8:47his peak. And if these don't happen,
258. 8:49then Argentina will reach 2028 with a
259. 8:51team that no longer runs like the 2022
260. 8:53one, and without anyone creating what
261. 8:55Messi created. And that isn't scary;
262. 8:57it's nostalgic. But if all three happen
263. 8:59, Argentina won't need another Messi;
264. 9:01they will need a player with his own
265. 9:03style. And the most curious thing is
266. 9:04that they already have him. Paz gave an
267. 9:06assist to Messi in his first match, and
268. 9:09Messi gave one to him in his last.
269. 9:11Argentina was already scary with a 10.
270. 9:13This time it doesn't need a genius to
271. 9:15be scary again. It just needs someone
272. 9:17to take the ball where Messi left it.
273. 9:18Yeah.