Emotions are already running high with the World Cup final matchup set between Argentina and Spain. Lionel Messi found himself at the center of a viral moment from a press event this week, where players and coaches from both finalists took questions, with one exchange stealing the attention.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
As Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente answered a question, the audience reportedly erupted into chants, repeatedly interrupting him. Cameras captured Messi looking toward the crowd, with many reading his expression as frustration over the disruption.
“What are you doing?” de la Fuente asked the crowd. “I’ve really been taught from a young age to be respectful to everyone, and we should also learn a little from that lesson: to always be respectful.”
De la Fuente’s response quieted the crowd and spread fast on social media, and it said a lot about how composed he is heading into Sunday. What stood out even more was how much respect he kept showing his opponents throughout the same press conference, brushing aside a lot of the criticism that’s been thrown at Argentina. That respect goes back a while, too. De la Fuente worked as an instructor back in 2017 while Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was studying for his professional coaching license, and the two have stayed close ever since.
“There are two top-class sides, two superb teams with many similarities – in their approach to the game and in the talent of their players – so I think it’s going to be a cracking match,” he said. “I believe that, in terms of our approach, both Argentina and Spain – Spain and Argentina alike – are setting out to play a match where brilliance, talent and good football will prevail over any other factor.”
He called Messi one of a kind, calling him an example for younger athletes, like Spain’s Lamine Yamal. Upon being asked how the Spaniards planned to contain Messi, de la Fuente answered with a humorous memory.
“We went to Barcelona to play them in the Spanish Cup and I’d heard great things about a lad called Messi,” he said. “Obviously we put him under man-to-man marking from the start… When the player marking him was shown a card, I brought him off, and within 15 minutes he (Messi) had scored four goals.”
While Lionel Messi himself didn’t say anything about the interruption, the footage made one thing clear. Both sides clearly hold a lot of respect for each other, and as Messi prepares for what is likely his last World Cup, the spotlight remains fixed on the final game on Sunday.
