Author: alaskaadmin

Twenty-six years ago, when a 13-year-old Lionel Messi left his beloved Rosario and arrived in Barcelona for his trial to join La Masia academy, with the hopes of sealing a move that could change his life, no one could predict the impact of that moment. Not only did it eternally change Messi’s life and the footballing landscape as a whole, but it also created a butterfly effect that transformed the entire fate of a club, a nation and the way Messi and Barcelona became the greatest partnership in modern football history. But his departure in 2021 from the club, which sent shock waves around the world, caused a seismic impact on so many tangible factors that forced Barcelona to act. As a result, from a fatalistic standpoint, Messi’s departure from Barcelona – and his eventual arrival to Inter Miami after a disappointing tenure with Paris Saint-Germain – became a huge factor in what we are currently witnessing: the continued gritty dominance of Argentina and the jaw-dropping depth of Spain, including the rapid rise of its star player, Lamine Yamal. Sunday’s World Cup final, therefore, has a chapter deeply embedded in its theme — and that’s the role of Barcelona. Messi’s exit from Barcelona was a result of financial instability and terrible mismanagement, where the club’s huge debt impeded it from signing the superstar due to La Liga’s financial fairness regulations. After 21 years, with heavy emotion, Messi left the club and joined PSG. Through the years in the aftermath, Barcelona needed to make the best of its most important asset: the aforementioned academy, as La Masia, the place which nurtured Messi, would have to come to the rescue once again. Since Messi’s departure, at least 15 different graduates from La Masia have featured heavily for Barcelona, including Yamal, who arrived on the senior team in the 2022-23 season under then-manager Xavi. Yamal aside, this acceleration of young Spanish talents now infiltrates La Roja with the likes of Pedri, Gavi, Pau Cubarsí, Eric García and Dani Olmo, all of whom are very important for the national team and a reason why Spain’s dominance has catapulted. Yamal especially. His arrival to Barcelona’s first team and Spain was sorely needed as he injected a vital, creative spark that had been missing. Yamal is a confident young superstar. A brand-new mold of star, full of swagger and without any inhibition regarding his game. He knows exactly who he is and, thanks to his success with club and country, as well as the guidance of his managers, Hansi Flick and Luis de la Fuente, he has persevered. There does remain a worry about minute management and the concern that perhaps these young stars are being worn down. Let’s remember, it was in this World Cup that Yamal had only just returned to full fitness as his first full match was in the round of 16 against Portugal. And since then, he hasn’t looked back. On Sunday, when he enters the pitch in New Jersey, he will become the third-youngest men’s player to enter a World Cup final behind Pelé and the Italian Giuseppe Bergomi. Then there’s Lionel Messi, who, at 39, is looking to once again turn back time and deliver another majestic performance in the final and help his Argentina — the two-consecutive Copa América winner and defending World Cup champion — do something only two other national teams have done before: win back-to-back World Cup trophies. And his departure from Barcelona also helped Argentina because, after PSG, winning the World Cup in 2022 was a sign of resilience and fortitude. But it was also about reflection. So his arrival to Inter Miami six months later gave him something that can’t be measured in transfer or contract fees. It gave him his happiness. “I have never seen you happier,” I told him the night before the Leagues Cup final, which would become Inter Miami’s first ever trophy. “It’s true,” he smiled back. “Not just because of results on the pitch but because of our everyday lifestyle, with my wife, my kids and the way we spend our time.” Yes, we would have to be fools to not realize that his move to MLS was financially monumental in every way, but it was also about his everyday life and his acceptance of peace after leaving PSG. Messi, once again, was happy. Calm. And I think this allowed him to continue playing, and eventually win MLS Cup, but also to create an even stronger relationship with Argentina, the players, Lionel Scaloni and its community. Miami, you see, and the South Florida region, is home to the largest Argentinian diaspora in America. Messi is practically in Rosario without actually being there. His people are there. Argentina’s federation even has a base in Miami, with a complex and offices, and works closely with Inter Miami for Messi’s preparations prior to major matches and tournaments with the national team. So playing in America throughout this World Cup has truly served Messi and Argentina. If this is his last dance, it is being played to a beautiful tango of Argentinian warmth. Argentina has benefited from Messi’s happiness as he also enters the final with a chance to secure the Golden Boot, also depending on what Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane do, or don’t, on Saturday. So I guess what I am trying to say is that when it comes to Sunday’s final between Argentina and Spain, this fixture is a result of fate, decisions thrown against Barcelona’s will, which consequently created a narrative that we have now. The Catalan club very much plays a role in this final. And I haven’t even mentioned the iconic 2007, viral photo by freelance photographer Joan Monfort. To conclude this sentiment, let’s leave it with this: Messi left Barcelona in 2021, but his departure caused a ripple-effect of trajectories, one where many players, most notably Lamine Yamal, benefited tremendously. And, after a short stint in Paris, it also allowed Leo to move to a place he could truly love in the final years of his career. In a cosmically intriguing way, they both owe each other a sense of gratitude — but it all begins at the place where both learned their trait: La Masia. Barcelona, therefore, may be very far away from East Rutherford, New Jersey, but in spirit and narrative, it is very much a protagonist for Sunday’s World Cup final.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

There may not be a clear favorite on Sunday when Spain and Argentina meet in the FIFA World Cup final, but there are very discernable differences in the way each team arrived at this point. For Argentina, Lionel Messi is the star. He is the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer with 21 goals. In 2022, he was the tournament’s best player with seven goals and three assists. Entering Sunday, he has eight goals and four assists at this World Cup. Unquestionably, Messi has a supporting cast with Argentina that consists of global stars. But Messi is the star. On the other side, it is a completely different approach. For Spain, there are world-class players on the roster, but the team is the star. Even with a player such as Lamine Yamal, who was recently a finalist for the Ballon d’Or as an 18-year-old, no single player is above the team or its system. Instead, every player fills a role within that system and sticks to that role. Former Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Inter Milan star forward Zlatan Ibrahimović, now a FOX Sports analyst, put it succinctly immediately following Spain’s 2-0 win over France in the World Cup semifinal. “If I speak about Spain, I don’t speak about one star,” Ibrahimović said. “The team is the star. When they shine, they shine collectively — even if you have Yamal. This is not a team that is dependent on one player. It is not an individual performance. It is a team performance. Everything they do is as a team.” The Foundation Of Spain’s System At the heart of this team is a system that has been evolving for many years. From 2004-2008, Spain was coached by Luis Aragonés. Then, from 2008-2016, La Roja were led by Vicente del Bosque. Those years saw Spain achieve unprecedented success, winning the Euros in 2008 and 2012, along with the World Cup in 2010. The teams were led by a wave of talent that included David Villa, Fernando Torres, Cesc Fàbregas, Andrés Iniesta, Gerard Piqué and Carles Puyol. At that time, Spain (and Barcelona) developed and perfected the “tiki-taka” style of playing which featured constant short passes, players forming triangles to have multiple passing options and a heavy emphasis on possession with a high tempo. For that generation of players, it worked. But, like all things, it ultimately came to an end. Replacing that generation was difficult, as Spain failed to get out of group play at the 2014 World Cup and then was bounced in the round of 16 in 2018 and 2022. But following the 2022 exit, Spain took huge steps in its evolution in hiring Luis de la Fuente to coach the first team. It was a bold hire because, despite having gone three World Cups without winning a knockout game, Spain decided to remain on the same track and go with an insider. De La Fuente’s Fresh Approach De la Fuente was promoted from within Spain after having successfully coached its youth teams since 2013. Prior to that, he had been unsuccessful in coaching stints at the club levels in Spain and Portugal. But with Spain’s youth teams, de la Fuente had been building something special with a new generation of Spanish players. He won the Euro U-19 championship, and then he moved up an age group and led the U-21 team to the Euro U-21 championship. His last stop before the full national team was the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021) with the U-23 team, which he led to the silver medal after losing to Brazil in the final. When he moved to the first team, he knew what was working. Despite him being an insider, he had his own ideas. He didn’t want to get rid of Spain’s high-tempo and speedy passing style, but instead wanted to breathe new life into it with tactical tweaks. He had Spain be more direct and get the ball into the attacking third quicker. De la Fuente also wanted to create overloads centrally to open space up for wingers to have more room to operate in one-on-one situations. Then, on defense, he developed a commitment to the team’s shape to close space and win the ball back. But de la Fuente has also not been acting alone. Other Spain youth national team managers during his time at the youth level were creating the same system. Just as the players worked together, the coaches were as well. Santi Denia was also a Spanish youth national team coach during that era after being hired in 2010. When de la Fuente moved to the full team manager, Denia was hired to replace him with Spain’s U-21 team and the 2024 Olympic team. The 2024 Spanish Summer Working in unison, de la Fuente and Denia created an incredible summer of 2024 for Spanish soccer. First there was the full national team at Euro 2024, where de la Fuente’s team won all seven of its games to win the title. The road was extremely difficult. Spain won all three of its group stage games against Italy, Croatia and Albania without conceding a goal. Then, in the knockouts, it rolled past Georgia, hosts Germany, France and then England in the final. As for the Olympic team, Denia won the gold medal playing essentially the same system. In the knockouts, Spain defeated Japan and Morocco and then France in the gold-medal game (in Paris). Just as important as winning the Euros and the Olympic gold medal were for Spain, Denia was able to develop players who made seamless transitions to the full team after playing the same system. Five players from the Olympic gold-winning team made the World Cup squad, including key players Pau Cubarsí and Álex Baena. It would have been six if star forward Fermín López hadn’t suffered a broken foot just before the tournament. “Luis is a master of managing a team,” Denia told FIFA recently. “He understands how players tick, he knows how to guide them, and he senses who should start each match. He adds his own twist to an established model, taking into account the players’ profiles. That has delivered results for the association in recent years and helped us win titles. We believe in that model, and Luis believes in it more than anyone.” The 2026 World Cup Run De la Fuente was able to help create and implement a new system and style of play that was consistent within Spain’s youth team and several of the country’s clubs. That helped to make it easier to name a roster for the 2026 World Cup. But it was also not without controversy. When the roster was named, it did not consist of a single Real Madrid player. La Liga rival Barcelona, meanwhile, sent eight players onto the World Cup team. In Spain, it was highly controversial and almost unthinkable to have Real Madrid absent from La Roja on the biggest stage. For de la Fuente, he said the roster was “perfect,” and that “it’s the 26 players we wanted.” Once again, it was de la Fuente’s belief in the system. “The best players aren’t just at Real Madrid, Barcelona or Atlético. There are very good players at other clubs,” de la Fuente explained before the tournament. “As we have a deep understanding of Spanish football, we pick the ones we believe best fit our system.” The past two months have proven de la Fuente correct. In the first seven games of the World Cup, Spain has not lost and has shockingly conceded just one goal. Its only blemishes were a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde and a goal conceded in a 2-1 win over Belgium in the quarterfinal. Former French World Cup winner Thierry Henry, who now serves as an analyst for FOX Sports, knows de la Fuente’s system well. He coached France’s U-23 team at the Olympics, which lost to Santi Denia and Spain in the gold-medal game. “The Spanish team finds a way to be successful at every level,” Henry said after Spain defeated France. “Women’s football, youth tournaments, the Olympics — I lost a final against them — time and time again they are coming. Identity and philosophy, they all play the same way at every level. The coach was the youth team coach normally, but because he knows the system and all the players know the system, you can see that it is a team with stars in it. But first and foremost, it is a team effort. Today, we were not in the game because mainly because when the Spanish team gets the ball, they don’t give you the ball back.” “I also want to give credit to the whole system of what they put in place,” Henry added. “Because Spain never used to win like that, and now they win at every level.” Spain and its impressive system will now be put to the test — against a Messi-led Argentina side that is the reigning World Cup champion and a two-time defending Copa América champion. The ultimate system vs. the ultimate star.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports