Spain’s head coach Luis de la Fuente has warned the referee for Sunday’s World Cup final not “to allow rules to be broken”.
Slovenia’s Slavko Vinčić will take charge of the match against Argentina at the Met Life Stadium in New Jersey having previously refereed Argentina’s surprise defeat to Saudi Arabia at the 2022 tournament.
Vinčić was accused in Qatar of giving a number of contentious decisions Saudi Arabia’s way.
Argentina have been portrayed in some quarters as a dirty team following their semi-final victory over England and De la Fuente has issued a message to the official that he must not allow Sunday’s opponents to seek his favour.
“The referee cannot act passively and allow the rules to be broken,” he said.
“Those lines of footballing legality cannot be crossed. I have unwavering faith in the referees, but I also have unwavering faith that we clearly know what kind of match we need to approach.
“They’re going to play their football, but we have to focus solely and exclusively on our own, on strengthening our style and improving it. If we stray from our philosophy and our model, we will suffer.
“We feel comfortable in the football arena, in the game, in being true to our idea, in not falling for provocations.”
The match is set to be the last at the World Cup for Lionel Messi, with the 39-year-old unlikely to still be on the international scene come 2030.
With 21 goals, he is currently the top scorer in tournament history, one ahead of France’s Kylian Mbappe before Saturday’s third-place play-off.
“I met Messi when I was coaching Sevilla’s youth teams,” said De la Fuente. “We were 0-0 when they gave a card to the player marking him. They scored four on us in 15 minutes.”
Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni told his press conference that there was plenty for his team to be worried about ahead of facing the European champions.
The head coach is looking to become the first manager to win back-to-back World Cups since Vittorio Pozzo achieved the feat with Italy in 1934 and 1938.
“If Spain leaves the hotel, I am already concerned,” said Scaloni. “Once they are on the bus and they leave the hotel, I am concerned. They are a great team. Everything concerns me about Spain.
“They also have players who have played in globally big stages. And they are top players for their teams. So when it comes to pressure, when the ball starts rolling, players forget about this and they just focus on playing.
“They played a Euro final and a Nations League final. They also have a great deal of experience. I don’t think being in a final again plays in our favour.”
