<\/div>\nMESSI TO GET \u2018SPECIAL ATTENTION\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
Luis de la Fuente said Spain planned to pay \u201cspecial attention\u201d to Lionel Messi in Sunday\u2019s World Cup final but ruled out trying to man-mark the Argentina captain.<\/p>\n
De la Fuente told reporters at a press conference on Friday that he knows from experience the challenges of using man-to-man marking against the eight-time Ballon D\u2019Or winner.<\/p>\n
The Spain coach recalled an experience from when he was coaching Sevilla\u2019s youth team while Messi was playing junior football for Barcelona, underlining how it was impossible to keep him quiet for the whole match.<\/p>\n
\u201cI first encountered him when I was coaching the Sevilla youth team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe went to Barcelona, and I had heard great things about a kid named Messi.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we assigned a player to mark him man-to-man, but in the 70th minute, I substituted the marker because he was on a yellow card. The score was 0-0, and in the span of 15 minutes, Messi scored four goals against us.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Lionel Messi speaks onstage during the FIFA World Cup 2026 press conference at Fanatics Fest NYC 2026 at Jacob Javits Center on July 17, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin\/Getty Images for Fanatics)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cSo we won\u2019t use man-to-man marking this time. We have to stay alert and pay special attention, certainly,\u201d de la Fuente added.<\/p>\n
Messi, 39, has produced a series of vintage performances for Argentina to carry them into Sunday\u2019s final, which will almost certainly be the veteran\u2019s last appearance in the World Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cMessi is one of a kind,\u201d de la Fuente said. \u201cAn example for young athletes in terms of his attitude and behaviour, especially given the spectacular World Cup he is playing at his age.\u201d Sunday\u2019s final will also be a personal duel between de la Fuente and has Argentina counterpart Lionel Scaloni, who formed a friendship in 2017 when de la Fuente was an instructor as Scaloni studied for his professional coaching licence.<\/p>\n
De la Fuente strongly pushed back at suggestions that Argentina may resort to skulduggery or streetwise tactics in an attempt to disrupt Spain.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, please, no, no, no,\u201d de la Fuente said. \u201cI would never dare to say that. I have the utmost admiration for this national team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve won the World Cup, two Copa Americas, the Finalissima… and they are led by a close friend of mine. I have nothing but admiration and more admiration for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that both Spain and Argentina will have a game plan where talent and good football will rule over everything else.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Spain’s head coach Luis de la Fuente speaks to fans at the Javits Center in New York on July 17, 2026, two days ahead of the 2026 World Cup football tournament final match between Spain and Argentina. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA \/ AFP)<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nDe la Fuente said his team was prepared to adjust for the extended half-time interval for Sunday\u2019s final. The break is expected to be nearly double the usual 15 minutes to accommodate a star-studded half-time show.<\/p>\n
The Spain coach said he believed longer half-time breaks — and the hydration breaks introduced at this World Cup — could become football\u2019s \u201cnormality\u201d in coming years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that everything that we consider to be strange or odd nowadays, you know, hydration breaks, the 30-minute half-time, maybe within 30 years will become normality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe football is developing that way. We don\u2019t know. It is what it is. We can\u2019t change that, so we\u2019ll have to enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\nWild scenes in Argentina for SF win | 01:13<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n\ufeff\u2018HONESTLY SOMETIMES I CRY\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez said Friday that thinking about his team\u2019s success in recent years sometimes brings him to tears as they attempt to retain the World Cup trophy in the final against Spain.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am focused only on winning. The whole team has improved so much and this is something we have spent years building,\u201d Aston Villa\u2019s Martinez told reporters in New York City ahead of Sunday\u2019s final at the MetLife Stadium.<\/p>\n
Argentina won the World Cup in 2022 by beating France on penalties in the final. They also won the Copa America in 2021 and 2024 and beat Italy in the 2022 Finalissima, a fixture between the South American and European champions.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly sometimes I cry to myself thinking about what we have achieved. I am just trying to enjoy the moment. Because sometimes as footballers you don\u2019t really realise where you are in your career,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy message to my teammates is that they should enjoy this moment, prepare with a smile on our faces. This is something we will remember forever.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Emiliano Martinez #23 of Argentina speaks to the media during a press conference ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final at Fanatics Fest at Javits Center on July 17, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Lars Baron \/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA \/ Getty Images via AFP)<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe 33-year-old will always be remembered in Argentina for his starring role in the 2022 campaign, including a stunning save deep in extra time to stop Randal Kolo Muani winning the final for France.<\/p>\n
Argentina had been 2-0 up in that game in Doha before two late Kylian Mbappe goals forced extra time. A Lionel Messi penalty then looked to have won it for Argentina, only for Mbappe to complete his hat-trick from the spot and force a shootout.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the last final we were far superior to France for 80 minutes up until their penalty, but in the end we conceded three goals and usually when you let in three goals in a final you are more likely to lose,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just had to make that save right at the end. Sometimes it comes off you and goes in. Against Jordan (in this year\u2019s group stage) it hit me and went in. The other day it went through my legs. Thankfully in the final it didn\u2019t.\u201d Martinez admitted he was enjoying this World Cup campaign much more than in 2022, despite coming into the tournament injured after suffering a fractured finger playing for Aston Villa in the Europa League final in May.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I am playing better with my feet, my decision-making is much better, and I am eternally grateful to be playing in my fifth final with this team.\u201d Argentina will become the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the World Cup trophy if they beat Spain at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe players in the team come from working-class backgrounds,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cOur parents have to work hard, and I think the Argentine people will remember us as hard workers, who never admit defeat — even if sometimes things are hard we always come through, like in this World Cup,\u201d he said when asked about what legacy the team might leave behind.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US President Donald Trump has become the latest person to take a dig at England manager Thomas Tuchel after the Three Lions lost their World Cup semi-final to Argentina on Thursday morning. Trump\u2019s previous involvement in this World Cup was to call FIFA president Gianni Infantino to encourage him to overturn USA striker Folarin Balogun\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":253466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-253465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}