Luis de la Fuente said Spain’s plan for the World Cup final was built around one instruction: keep Lionel Messi away from the ball.
“The first idea was to keep Messi at bay, but also the other players. We wanted to keep them away from our goal,” the Spain coach told his post-match press conference after Spain beat Argentina 1-0 at MetLife Stadium on 19 July.
Ferran Torres decided it in the 106th minute of extra time, finishing from close range after a Nico Williams header at the back post.
Argentina finished with two shots and none on target, according to the live match report, and played extra time a man short after Enzo Fernández was sent off for a second yellow late in stoppage time.
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“We managed to keep him away with ball possession. We did very well indeed, the work of the team was sublime,” De la Fuente told Goal.
He was more critical of his own team’s finishing than of anything Argentina produced.
“I think it was a very complete game. If it wasn’t for the keeper, maybe we would have had a larger margin, a larger win,” he said of the Argentina goalkeeper.
‘Inadmissible’ at that level
After referee Slavko Vinčić blew for full time, Nahuel Molina shoved Rodri, Leandro Paredes traded blows with Eric García and Gavi, and Argentina assistant coach Roberto Ayala pushed Dani Olmo, World Soccer Talk reported.
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De la Fuente said he did not see any of it live.
“Believe me that I didn’t notice at the time. I must have been celebrating with others, I didn’t realize. Certainly, that was inadmissible and intolerable for soccer players of that level,” he told Spanish broadcaster Teledeporte, as reported by Bolavip.
He also praised Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni.
“I had praised them every day going into the final, and still do, because they are great players. [Argentina] have a great head coach, who I’m sure went through as hard a time as we did after seeing such reactions. What I do believe must be highlighted was our behavior. Especially after that kind of aggressions and provocations, our players always kept good sportsmanship.”
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FIFA opens a case
FIFA has appointed a disciplinary and ethics prosecutor to investigate the incident, Al Jazeera reported.
No timeline has been set for the inquiry, and no sanctions have been issued against players or staff from either side.
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