Manager insists his side will pay equal attention to every Argentina player
Luis de la Fuente says Spain will not man-mark Lionel Messi in Sunday’s World Cup final despite the Argentina captain’s outstanding tournament.
Messi has scored eight goals and provided four assists on the way to the final in New Jersey, meaning that he has contributed to 12 of Argentina’s 14 goals so far, but the Spain manager will focus on his own team and their style of play, even if he has had a poor experience of failing to man-mark Messi in the past.
“I’m going to tell you something funny about Messi,” De la Fuente said. “Look, I met Lionel Messi when I was coaching at Sevilla in division de honour [the national under-19 league] and we played a Copa del Rey game against Barcelona.
“We went to Barcelona. They had spoken very well about a boy called Messi. So, we put a man-marker on him. In the 70th minute it was 0-0. When they gave a yellow card to the player who was marking him, I took him off. And in 15 minutes, Messi scored four goals.”
The Spain coach laughed as he recalled the story but insisted it would still not shape his plans this time.
“Does that mean we are going to man mark him? No,” De la Fuente said. “Does it mean we will pay close attention to him? Yes, but in exactly the same way that they are going to have to pay attention to our players.”
De la Fuente also rejected comparisons between Messi and Lamine Yamal, insisting the teenage forward should develop in his own way rather than be measured against the Argentina captain.
“Lamine has to be Lamine,” he said. “Messi can never be repeated. He is an extraordinary talent and above all an example for young players in his attitude, his behaviour, the spectacular World Cup he is producing and the age at which he is producing it.
“It will be a great show between two super teams. It will be a game of talent, brilliance, great play.”
The Spain manager also defended Argentina against suggestions they rely on gamesmanship, praising Lionel Scaloni’s side for their achievements over the past five years.
“Please,” he said. “I respect everyone’s opinions but no, I do not [accept that narrative]. I have extraordinary admiration for a team that is Copa America [2021], World Cup, Copa America [2024] and Finalissima champions.
“No one has done that in history. And they are coached by a friend of mine [Lionel Scaloni]. Admiration, admiration, admiration. We will all use our footballing weapons.”
De la Fuente dismissed the idea that the final was an all-or-nothing occasion for Spain.
“What is important is to be in the position to win it,” he said. “Let’s enjoy it, play our way, value this. If you said we could play a World Cup final every year and lose, I would sign up for that.”
