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

Luis de la Fuente said Spain will focus on Lionel Messi with “special attention” for Sunday’s World Cup final, but ruled out man-to-man marking despite knowing the difficulty from experience. Speaking at a Friday press conference, the Spain coach recalled coaching Sevilla’s youth team when Messi was playing junior football for Barcelona. He said a player was assigned to mark Messi directly, but after that marker received a yellow card in the 70th minute and was substituted, the match swung quickly; within 15 minutes Messi scored four goals in a 0-0 game. De la Fuente, who expects Spain to stay alert rather than commit to tight tracking, also described Messi, 39, as potentially in his last World Cup appearance. He added that Spain’s preparation considers Sunday’s half-time break, expected to be nearly double the usual 15 minutes for a star-studded show, and suggested longer breaks and hydration pauses could become normal in coming years.