The Spanish manager gave a look into his tactical plans for the 2026 World Cup final.
Spain is suiting up to battle Argentina on Sunday in the 2026 World Cup final. The European powerhouse may be the current favorite to hoist the hardware at MetLife Stadium, but the South American side won’t go down easy.
It will be relentless in its pursuit of a second consecutive World Cup crown, a feat no nation has achieved in over 60 years . The biggest obstacle standing in Spain’s way, though, is most certainly the one and only Lionel Messi. The 39-year-old soccer legend, although supposedly in the “twilight” of his seasoned career, is having his best World Cup at the sixth attempt.
He has scored eight goals and notched four assists to nearly single-handedly keepalive in the last four nail-biting stages. His late-stage heroics have almost certainly sealed up the Golden Ball award, if he doesn’t alsomanager Luis de la Fuente is simply excited for the hearty competition and the chance for Spain to compete for its first“Just being in a final is a privilege.
Id sign up to reach a world championship final every year and lose,” de la Fuente told reporters on Friday.
“We want to fight to win it. We’re going to enjoy this moment. They’re a great rival with a spectacular track record. ”Lionel Messi has been unstoppable this summer.
| Erick W. Rasco/ Sports Illustrated “We won’t man-mark , but we’ll be vigilant,” De la Fuente said.
“ Scaloni and I are two great competitors who admire each other a lot. It’s a privilege to face him. ”between the two nations scheduled for March, De la Fuente missed out on a critical opportunity to experiment tactically against Messi.
Nevertheless, the Spanish boss does have prior experience facing the soccer star, back when Messi was just 16 years old. It was May 2004. Messi was coming up through Barcelona’s youth ranks, and De la Fuente was coaching the U-19 side at Sevilla. The two teams went head-to-head in a cup clash at the Miniestadi.
Interestingly enough, removing Messi’s man-mark in that match is exactly what burned De la Fuente in the end.
“They had spoken very well about a boy called Messi,” De la Fuente recalled. “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. ”“Does that mean we are going to man-mark him? No,” De la Fuente added.
“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. ” Spain touts the likes of attacking threats Lamine Yamal and Mikel Oyarzabal, among others that Argentina must account for.
Additionally, the defending European champion will be confident in its defensive capabilities, having conceded only one goal all tournament. Nevertheless, Spain will need to be vigilant in the last 15 minutes of the match specifically. That is when Argentina, and Messi in particular,, as if addicted to the procrastination of winning. It is a heart attack-inducing strategy, but has nonetheless proven effective for the squad thus far.
Of its 19 total goals this summer, Argentina has scored 12 of them in the 75th minute or later. Of those 12, Messi scored four and assisted three others. Sophia Vesely is a writer, reporter and editor for SI FC, with an emphasis on North American coverage. Her experience comes from regional journalism as a former sports reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, Dallas Morning News and Seattle Times.
Vesely graduated from Swarthmore College, where she played collegiate soccer as a wingback. She specializes in MLS, NWSL and NCAA soccer.
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