After an enthralling month in North America, Spain and Argentina can almost touch the trophy. Ahead of what promises to be an unforgettable final on Sunday, La Roja coach Luis de la Fuente and captain Rodrigo shared their thoughts on the game at the pre-match press conference.
“I think tomorrow is going to be an incredible show,” said De La Fuente. “We have two super teams that have a lot in common, especially in terms of having big personalities and highly talented players. Both sides, naturally, will try and play to our strengths but I think that both Argentina and Spain will be plotting a gameplan where brilliance, talent and good play shines through above anything else.”
The Spain coach was keen to highlight what an honour it was to be one of the two finalists in New York New Jersey. “I think it’s a privilege just to be in this final. I’m not one for lofty statements - what’s important to me is to be in a good position to win. I would be happy to reach the World Cup final each year and lose. That shows you how important the World Cup is. And we have the chance to fight to win it and that’s what we’ll do.”
There has been some doubt about the fitness of Lamine Yamal after he picked up a knock in the semi-final win over France. De La Fuente, however, said the forward had been training normally since then, which is a huge boost given the 19-year-old is one of the most influential players in the team.
Asked about the constant , De La Fuente said: “I think Lamine has to be Lamine. Messi is an unbelievable talent, and example to all young footballers. I consider him a role model but Lamine has to be Lamine and and the best way to help him is to give him the support so he can keep being Lamine.”
When De La Fuente was asked whether he would instruct his players to man-mark Messi, he decided to tell an anecdote about his first encounter with Argentina’s talisman, from when he was in charge of Sevilla’s youth team. “I met Lionel Mess when he was playing in youth football. It was a Copa del Rey match between Sevilla and Barcelona. I had heard a lot about a boy who was called Messi.
“So, naturally, we decided to man-mark him at first. In the 70th minute we were drawing 0-0 and when the player who was man-marking him was shown a card I took him off. In the next 15 minutes, Messi scored four times. Does that mean we’re going to man-mark him? No. But will we be paying a lot of attention to him? Yes. But no more than they will be paying attention to our players.”
Turning his attention to his opponents, De La Fuente stressed his “admiration, admiration and more admiration” for Argentina, adding that opposing coach Lionel Scaloni was “a good friend of mine”.
Rodri, meanwhile, emphasised that Argentina had struggled at times during the tournament but had always come out on the other side. “It shows that that they are a very competitive side, one that knows how to turn difficult situations around,” he said.
“It shows how much character they have and we’ll have to keep that in mind and remember what type of team they are. We will try and hit them where it hurts while remembering that the game could turn in many different directions.”
Sources: FIFA Official
