Spain’s manager Luis de la Fuente has ruled out deploying a dedicated marker on Lionel Messi during the World Cup final, despite the Argentine captain’s staggering tally of eight goals and four assists in the tournament and a personal lesson that hints otherwise.
Ahead of Sunday’s showpiece in New Jersey, De la Fuente recalled his first brush with Messi over two decades ago, when the forward was a 16-year-old emerging at Barcelona and the Spanish coach was in charge of Sevilla’s under-19 side. The pair met in a Copa del Rey under-19 last-16 tie at the Miniestadi in May 2004.
“Let me share an amusing story about Messi,” De la Fuente said. “I first came across him when I was coaching Sevilla in the division de honour [national under-19 league] and we faced Barcelona in a cup match. We travelled to Barcelona. People had spoken highly of this youngster called Messi, so we assigned someone to shadow him. By the 70th minute it was still 0-0. Then the man-marker got a yellow card and I substituted him. In the space of 15 minutes, Messi scored four times.”
De la Fuente added with a chuckle: “Does that mean we’ll man-mark him? No. Does it mean we’ll keep an extremely close watch? Absolutely, but no more than they’ll need to watch our own players.”
When asked if Lamine Yamal was the closest thing Spain had to Messi, De la Fuente replied: “Lamine has to forge his own identity. There will never be another Messi. He is a phenomenal talent and, above all, a role model for young footballers because of his mentality, his conduct, the incredible World Cup he’s having and the age at which he’s doing it. It’s going to be a magnificent spectacle between two outstanding sides — a match defined by skill, flair and superb football.”
He pushed back on the notion that Argentina might resort to underhand tactics, rejecting the idea that they are a cynical team. “Come on,” he retorted. “I respect everyone’s view, but no, I don’t [accept that depiction]. I have immense admiration for a side that has won the Copa América [2021], the World Cup, the Copa América [2024] and the Finalissima — nobody in history has achieved that. And they are led by a friend of mine [Lionel Scaloni]. Admiration, admiration, admiration. Each team will use its own footballing tools.”
De la Fuente also brushed off suggestions that the final was a winner-takes-all scenario. “The crucial thing is to be in a position to win it,” he remarked. “Let’s savour it, stick to our style, appreciate the occasion. If you offered me the chance to contest a World Cup final every year and lose, I’d take that deal.”
He admitted that the only thing giving him real anxiety was the fact that Fifa had made him take a helicopter from New Jersey to the pre-match events in Manhattan and that he still had to make the return trip. He was also unimpressed by a chaotic, overblown Fifa gathering that an evidently annoyed Scaloni called “surreal”. During the event, De la Fuente found it hard to be heard above the din of spectators yelling and cheering for Messi, who shared the stage.
“From childhood, I was raised to show respect to everyone; that’s a lesson we ought to learn,” he told those present.
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