Spain are going to take on Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday, July 19. The Spaniards beat France in a masterful display of passing football in the semifinal, while Argentina beat England in a thriller to make it to the World Cup final.
Spain last won the tournament in 2010, and Argentina are the defending champions. It can be said without much doubt that the World Cup final will be a gripping affair.
Spain Must Not Allow Much Possession to Argentina
Spain do it to every team they face; they squeeze possession and do not allow the opposition team much time on the ball. They will try to do the same against Argentina in the World Cup final, as the latter have the talismanic Lionel Messi in their team, who can make the difference when he has the ball.
England made the cardinal mistake of allowing Argentina enough space and time on the ball for the last half an hour of their semifinal match. Spain will take note of that and will try to rob Argentina as much as time on the ball as they did against France.
The likes of Rodri, Pedri, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo will look to dictate terms once again with their flurry of short passes in the midfield to push Argentina to their defensive third for the majority of the match.
The Aerial Threat of Argentina in the Spain vs Argentina World Cup final
Argentina have been a regular threat in the air for opposition teams despite the presence of a number of diminutive players in their team. The likes of Alexis Mac Allister and Lautaro Martinez have repeatedly shown that their lack of stature is not a problem in connecting with crosses inside the penalty box.
In such a scenario, Pau Cubarsi and Aymeric Laporte, both of whom have been superb in the tournament so far, will be on guard against aerial balls played into their penalty box. Rodri, who is quite a tall man himself, might also think of helping the centre-backs out while dealing with the crosses into the box. Alex Baena, the left-winger, will also play a crucial role in falling back and stopping Messi from delivering those deadly crosses.
It is going to be very important for Spain to stop Messi from playing crosses from the right flank or the inside-right channel with ease. England did the mistake of allowing Messi to play the crosses easily and paid the price for it.
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Will Argentina Manage to Stop Lamine Yamal?
Yamal has not been at his devastating best in the tournament, but has done enough to contribute towards Spain’s ascent to the World Cup final. A key job for the Argentine defence will be to deal with Yamal on the right flank.
Yamal managed to earn the Spaniards a penalty and won the duel against Lucas Digne, the French left-back, in the Spain vs Argentina match. A repeat of the same might put Argentina in some trouble in the Spain vs Argentina match.
It remains to be seen whether the Argentine defence can hold firm against the triple threat of Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal and Alex Baena.
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