Luis de la Fuente, the technical director of the Spanish national team, made statements to the Spanish newspaper "Sport" regarding the upcoming FIFA World Cup final match against Argentina.
The "New York New Jersey" stadium hosts the match between the Argentine and Spanish national teams in the 2026 World Cup final.
La Fuente said: "Lamine Yamal? No, he was suffering from a minor injury due to the last match, in the penalty kick incident, we decided not to have him participate in training yesterday as a precautionary measure, out of concern for his safety and everyone's peace of mind, especially since he felt some discomfort that prevented him from training normally, so we preferred him to do a different type of exercises".
He added: "I expect more from everyone, not just from Lamine, this is not a criticism at all, I am very happy with his performance and the performance of everyone, this is an integral principle in this group, we want to become better every day, he possesses exceptional football abilities, a growth rate and potential that no one can predict, he is one of the first who strongly desires to exert more effort daily, as his quality, talent and responsibility towards his audience compel him to do so".
Regarding the presence of his image next to Lionel Messi in Times Square, he said, "We have to understand that he is only 19 years old, Messi is 20 years older than him, Lionel went through similar situations when he was his age, but he is certainly going through them now in a different way".
He stated: "Lamine is a very mature player, but we have to support him, we are also part of that process, not only from a sporting perspective, but human and personal, we must always remain by his side".
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Regarding the media competition between Messi and Lamine Yamal, he said: "Both are wonderful players, but there is no room for comparison between them currently, nor any room for comparison at all, why? Because Lionel's career is unique in the game of football, whereas Yamal is still at the beginning, we have to give him time, and we also have to be cautious and realize that he is still in the development stage, he is an excellent, amazing player who breaks all records at his age, but we are talking about Messi, he is a completely different world".
Regarding what worries him most about Messi, he said: "That he delivers one of his usual great matches, but Lamine Yamal can also deliver an excellent performance, I am thinking about what I can control, here it is about the performance of our players, in one way or another, here is the challenge, I have to choose one of the two options, of course I will choose for our team to deliver a good performance".
And whether it is difficult to set a plan to face Messi, he admitted: "We have to exploit our strengths, we are distinguished by high tactical discipline, along with a strongly balanced defensive system, we will continue to work in that way, whether Messi plays or not, in some cases it is natural that certain areas of the pitch require special attention, we will apply that approach in those cases, but the most important is to focus on performing our duty, we cannot compromise our style or our method for any reason, perhaps we need to adapt, but we must remain committed to our style".
And whether he fears violent play from Argentina, he said: "There is a lot being said about the referee's performance, the referee appointed for the match cannot be lenient and allow rules to be broken and boundaries crossed, I have full confidence in the officiating, but I also have full confidence that we know exactly the type of match we have to play, we don't feel comfortable sometimes, we feel it within the framework of football, in the game itself, in our commitment to our way and not being drawn into provocations".
He concluded: "I am not saying that Argentina will not provoke us, they will play in their style, but we have to focus only on ourselves, on supporting our style and developing it, this is what we do and will continue to do, if we adhere to that, it will increase our chances of winning, and if we deviate, it will harm us".
