The other great generational duel of the World Cup final

"It was like a school: the kids in front and the kids behind. He sat in the front row," Luis de la Fuente recalled a few weeks ago in an interview with the newspaper The Guardian. He was talking about Lionel Scaloni. They met in 2017 as professor and student in the Spanish federation's coaching courses for ex-elite players and will meet again this Sunday in the World Cup final. The Spanish national team, reigning European champions, and the Argentine national team, current world and South American champions, will fight for a historic title. It will be an exciting double duel, between Leo Messi and Lamine Yamal on the pitch and between De la Fuente and Scaloni on the bench.

Ginés Meléndez, then technical director of the federation and also of the national coaching school, explains that De la Fuente was the technical professor along with Jorge Vilda. He certifies that Scaloni sat in the front row. "To the professor's left." Next to Leo Franco, a former player for Mallorca, Atlético de Madrid, and Zaragoza, and Montse Tomé, the women's national team coach.

From the front row to the bench

The Spanish federation offers the option of taking UEFA coaching courses in an intensive format for former players who meet a series of requirements: having played eight years in the First Division, having played five matches for the Spanish national team, or being a world, European, or Olympic champion. In 2017, players such as Andoni Iraola, Fernando Redondo, Walter Pandiani, Javier Saviola, Juan Carlos Valerón, and three Catalans: David Garcia, Moisés Hurtado, and Albert Lopo, took the course. "You quickly see who will be coaches and who are doing it to have another option, in case an opportunity arises. Scaloni was one of those you could immediately tell would become coaches, no matter what," emphasizes Meléndez.

Along the same lines, David Garcia (Manresa, 1981), a former Espanyol and Girona player, highlights: "Many people take the course because we have facilities and it's another path, but it was already clear that he had it very clear. It was very clear that Iraola and Scaloni would be coaches."

I already knew him from his time as a footballer: "As a direct rival, because, in addition, he played on the right and I on the left. I debuted against Dépor, the team I played against the most times and it's the stadium where I suffered the biggest thrashing of my career," he admits with a smile. "He was very intense on the field. He went very hard, to the limit. He talked a lot, he commanded and ordered his teammates a lot, and you could already see that leadership quality and that coaching potential. 'You here, you there,' he adds.

They shared many moments because Lopo had played at Riazor, and they bonded with the players from Athletic Club and Dépor. They recall many informal matches and football-tennis games where Scaloni's very Argentinian character was evident. The course was held in Las Rozas, at the federation's sports city.

A vocation that was already sensed

Garcia explains that the classes were from Monday to Friday, from 9 in the morning to 7 in the evening. Scaloni was already Jorge Sampaoli's assistant in the albiceleste national team and "spent many hours in the room working". "If you needed anything, he would get it for you quickly. He was very methodical and a very good teammate," admits Garcia.

He also speaks with admiration of De la Fuente: "He was very approachable and very calm. I remember him telling us: 'This is a drag because I can't explain practically anything to you.' We debated a lot." Some still keep the notes from his classes.

At that time, De la Fuente was already coaching the U-19 national team. On July 19, 2015, he won the European Championship with Rodri Hernández and Mikel Merino in the double pivot, with Unai Simón on the bench and with a Catalan player, Aarón Martín. Eleven years later, on another July 19, they will play the final of the senior World Cup. In 2019, De la Fuente won the U-21 Eurocup with Dani Olmo, Mikel Oyarzabal, Fabián Ruiz, Merino, and Simón.

In the same vein, Moisés Hurtado (Badia del Vallès, 1981) highlights that De la Fuente was a pleasant and approachable person, an excellent group manager, and that Scaloni was "very Argentinian, very talkative". "He liked to push, but he also knew how to take it," he says with a smile. Hurtado has just signed for the Greek club PAOK of Thessaloniki as assistant to Alessio Lisci, former coach of Osasuna and another student from that 2017 course.

He recalls an anecdote with Scaloni: "One day he called me to ask me about Nico Melamed because they were looking at him. He told me about a certain Ribaudo. I told him that there was no player at Espanyol named that, and he told me: 'Che, no conocés a los jugadores de tu equipo'. It was his second surname. We laughed a lot.