The owners of the ball! …Spain brilliant world champion

Ferran Torres, the opportune scorer, the player who does not need to dazzle to convince with his effectiveness, scored the goal that Spain needed to embroider the second star on its chest, a second title that it fought against a flat Argentina team, which played the entire extra time with one less due to the expulsion of Enzo Fernández and in which Leo Messi barely appeared, in his farewell to the World Cup.

Ferran scored Iniesta’s goal, which, like the man from La Mancha sixteen years before, in Johannesburg, brings out an entire country that identifies with an idea. By play and attitude, by not turning every dispute into a battle, as Argentina wanted, “la Roja” is a fair champion, a team that has left Portugal, Belgium, France and, at the last moment, the hitherto king of the tournament by the wayside.

In a tense final, with too much contact allowed by the referee, Spain proposed and Argentina tried to survive, especially in a second half in which Luis de la Fuente’s team was much superior and the “Albiceleste” barely left its side of the field, with Messi as a spectator.

The “Red” deserved more before extra time. He accumulated up to 13 shots to one of his rival before extra time and ran into a spectacular Emiliano Martínez, who was impressive in keeping Scaloni’s team afloat.

Neither of them were surprising at the start. Spain wanted to play in the rival field and dictate the pace of the game. Argentina waited patiently for its moment. And between the two, the fear of conceding the first goal, the game being blocked to avoid dangerous actions.

Lamine had the first, after 5 minutes, after a one-two with Dani Olmo, the best partner when the ball is around the area, and forced Emiliano Martínez to intervene. Almost immediately Argentina responded for an error by Aymeric Laporte and it was Unai Simón who had to leave the area to prevent Messi from controlling the ball.

There wasn’t much more until the hydration break, this time justified. And from that three-minute interval, a Spanish team emerged more confident in its associative play, which lacked precision, but created danger with shots from Mikel Oyarzabal, stopped without problems by ‘Dibu’, and Marc Cucurella, too crossed.

Not only did the “Albiceleste” not shoot on goal, but before the break they lost Lisandro Martínez due to injury, replaced by Nicolás Otamendi, but they took the game to the place they wanted.

After halftime, with a Superbowl-style show included, the dynamic did not change with the entrance of Leandro Paredes, too revved up, who soon earned a yellow. Argentina, without the ball, increased the intensity of its attacks, sometimes bordering on violence, and De la Fuente resorted to plan B, Ferran and Pedri on the field, for Oyarzabal – practically unprecedented – and Fabián.

And “La Roja” began to blur the world champion, who was backing away. With Lamine becoming more and more active, Ferran was about to score with a header, but well placed he stopped the ‘Dibu’ (m.66).

Pedri, Cubarsí, Laporte… Spain was accumulating chances, they poured over the Argentine goal and turned the Argentine goalkeeper into the rival’s best player. With Mikel Merino and Nico Williams on the field, he felt it was his moment.

The Spanish team completely took over the game, but they also entered the ‘Argentine zone’ at that moment in which they take advantage of any action.

Not even the expulsion of Enzo Fernández, for over-braking in a split ball with Pau Cubarsí (m.93), could then be considered an advantage because the “Albiceleste” grows in the face of adversity.

And he has ‘Dibu’, once again the hero to take a free hit from 20 meters from Lamine, in the last action, and send the game to extra time in which as soon as it began he put an incredible hand on a headbutt from Nico Williams.

The youngest Williams scored almost immediately, but his goal was annulled due to an alleged previous foul by Mikel Merino on Nicolás Otamendi and, despite continuing to surround the albiceleste area, he did not find the right shot until the second half of extra time.

Until just after the second half of extra time began, Ferran appeared to take advantage of a ball combed from behind by Nico Williams and finish with his soul where the ‘Dibu’ couldn’t reach. 1-0.

With the only motto of reaching penalties at any cost for too many minutes, Argentina ended up giving up the title with nothing to offer. With one less man, yes, but also assuming his inferiority too soon. And with Messi very blurred in his last game in a World Cup.

Spain is a champion of merit. A rival who instills fear due to his ability to control the game. Sixteen years later, the star of the collective game shines again, of the belief that it is better to treat the ball well than to resort to other football.

This is how they aligned

– Spain (1): Unai Simón; Pedro Porro, Pau Cubarsí, Aymeric Laporte (Eric García, d.99), Marc Cucurella; Fabián Ruiz (Pedri, m.62), Rodrigo Hernández (Martín Zubimendi, m.99), Dani Olmo (Mikel Merino, m.75); Lamine Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal (Ferran, m.62) and Alex Baena (Nico Williams, m.75).

– Selector: Luis de la Fuente.

– Argentina (0): Emiliano Martínez; Gonzalo Montiel (Nahuel Molina, m.58), Lisandro Martínez (Nicolás Otamendi, m.45), Cristian Romero (Facundo Medina, m.71), Nicolás Tagliafico; Enzo Fernández, Alexis McAllister, Rodrigo de Paul (Giuliano Simeone, m.71), Nico González (Leandro Paredes, m.46); Leo Messi and Julián Álvarez (Marcos Senesi, m.102).

– Selector: Lionel Scaloni.

– Goals: 1-0: m.106: Ferran Torres.

– Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia). Enzo Fernández was sent off for a double yellow (ms 82 y.93+). He admonished the Argentines Lisandro Martínez, Leandro Paredes, Alexis McAllister.

– Incidents: World Cup final played at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford before 80,663 spectators.

(With a report from Óscar González, from EFE)