Messi to get ‘special attention’ from Spain, says de la Fuente

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente and Lionel Messi are seen in this composite image. (The Associated Press)

Luis de la Fuente said Spain planned to pay “special attention” to Lionel Messi in Sunday’s World Cup final but ruled out trying to man-mark the Argentina captain.

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’Or winner.

The Spain coach recalled an experience from when he was coaching Sevilla’s youth team while Messi was playing junior football for Barcelona, underlining how it was impossible to keep him quiet for the whole match.

“I first encountered him when I was coaching the Sevilla youth team,” he said. “We went to Barcelona, and I had heard great things about a kid named Messi.

“So 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.”

“So we won’t use man-to-man marking this time. We have to stay alert and pay special attention, certainly,” de la Fuente added.

Messi, 39, has produced a series of vintage performances for Argentina to carry them into Sunday’s final, which will almost certainly be the veteran’s last appearance in the World Cup.

“Messi is one of a kind,” de la Fuente said. “An example for young athletes in terms of his attitude and behaviour, especially given the spectacular World Cup he is playing at his age.”

Sunday’s 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.

De la Fuente strongly pushed back at suggestions that Argentina may resort to skullduggery or streetwise tactics in an attempt to disrupt Spain.

“Oh, please, no, no, no,” de la Fuente said. “I would never dare to say that. I have the utmost admiration for this national team.

“They’ve 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.

“I believe that both Spain and Argentina will have a game plan where talent and good football will rule over everything else.”

De la Fuente said his team was prepared to adjust for the extended half-time interval for Sunday’s final. The break is expected to be nearly double the usual 15 minutes to accommodate a star-studded half-time show.

The Spain coach said he believed longer half-time breaks -- and the hydration breaks introduced at this World Cup -- could become football’s “normality” in coming years.

“I 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,” he said.

“Maybe football is developing that way. We don’t know. It is what it is. We can’t change that, so we’ll have to enjoy it.”