Luis de la Fuente, coach of the Spanish national team, expressed his great pride in his team's qualification to the World Cup final, before facing Argentina tomorrow, Sunday, directing advice to La Roja's star, Lamine Yamal.
The Spanish national team faces Argentina tomorrow, Sunday, in the final of the World Cup tournament, which is being held in America, Mexico, and Canada.
The Spanish national team seeks to make history and win the World Cup title for the second time in its history and for the first time since 2010.
De la Fuente said during the press conference for the match, which was reported by the newspaper "AS": "I think reaching the final in itself is a privilege and an honor, I wish to reach the World Cup final every edition and lose in it, and we will fight to win, the opponent is a strong competitor who has achieved an impressive series of victories since Scaloni took charge".
He added: "It will be a wonderful match, they are two great teams and there are similarities between them, each of them will seek to control the course of the play, but we will provide a match in which brilliance and talent will be the decisive factor, and the referees are there, first and foremost, to help them, then to ensure that the audience enjoys the match".
Regarding whether he is nervous about the World Cup final, De la Fuente explained: "I am nervous because we will return by helicopter now, and this really makes me nervous, nothing else, I am completely calm, it is a blessing to be in this position, and what we want is to enjoy this match".
Regarding Lamine Yamal's condition, he continued: "He is fine, these are the decisive moments, because in case any adverse circumstances occur, Lamine must be himself, Messi is not replaceable either, he is a role model for young players, as he is delivering an amazing performance in this World Cup, the best way to help Lamine is to let him be himself".
He continued: "Lamine Yamal suffered a strong injury during the penalty kick incident against France, he was feeling some discomfort, so we preferred him to train, he is now fine and there is no problem, and he enjoys excellent physical fitness".
Regarding the secret of his success with Spain as a coach, De la Fuente continued: "Work then work, and this is the secret, when things do not go as you wish, you must continue working and persevering, and surround yourself on this journey with competent players and assistants, but most important of all, is feeling the support".
Regarding increasing the rest period between the two halves of the match to become 17 minutes instead of 15, De la Fuente answered: "At the end of May, I explained to my team's players how the tournament system is, and concluded my speech by saying: 'Gentlemen, this is the situation', and we did not receive any complaints, we are proud to be here, and I also think that everything that seems strange to us now may become a normal thing within a few years, and this is the nature of football, we must adapt, and since we cannot change the situation, we must enjoy it".
Regarding Argentina, he continued: "We must be ahead of them, they have known how to return and control matches, this is what we know in our history, when I talk about some similarities between us and them, we find points of agreement between us, I and Scaloni, we agree with his point of view and with my point of view".
He went on: "I have great affection for Vicente del Bosque, he is wise in the world of football, he has gone through this experience himself, and no one is better than him to offer advice and guidance, having a preconceived idea, in anticipation of knowing any of the basic information you need when the decisive moments come, and they will certainly come, this is useful and gives you peace of mind".
Regarding the possibility of following in the footsteps of England coach Thomas Tuchel and putting a plan to stop Messi, De la Fuente replied: "I will tell you something funny, I was coaching the Sevilla youth team in the second division, and we were playing against Barcelona, Messi was on the team, and I had heard about him, at first, we imposed close marking on him, and in the 70th minute, I substituted the player who was marking him, and within 15 minutes they scored four goals against us".
Regarding the violence and provocation of the Argentine players, De la Fuente concluded: "This never crossed my mind, they are Copa America and World Cup champions, then their coach is a friend of mine, they have their strengths, but they only play football".
