Spain conquer the world + Ornstein's summer transfers
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Athletic FC.
So that's it. The World Cup is over and it ended with pain for Messi, disgrace for Argentina, but a second star for Spain.
And that will do it. Spain's operations second star is complete. Viva España.
Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Adam Leventhal, live from New York.
How did Spain win the World Cup final and what made their performance decisive?
And we're live for one final time here at ACAR Studios in New York. We're going to be reflecting on the final, of course, and all that that entailed, the good, the bad and the ugly. But we are looking forward as well, because there's only one month to go until the start of the Premier League season, everyone. No rest for the wicked. And indeed, we are going to answer your transfer questions because David Ornstein is back once again. So send them in. Adam Crafton is here as well. It'd be great on the live stream if you send in your abiding memories of this World Cup and we'll go through them in addition to your questions. I'm not going to start with Spain. We'll give them the floor shortly and give them all the credit that they deserve.
But let's start with Spain. And after all the glory of four years ago, the amazing final in Qatar and all that, they leave the tournament having disgraced themselves in that final, Adam.
Yeah, by the end, they were pretty diminished as a team. They didn't play well. That's the main thing. I mean, they've played a lot better at times in the tournament or they've had these periods of games where they start to sort of get going and then they kind of go into overdrive and they just couldn't do that at all. I mean, they barely had a shot in the entire game. The obvious person, Messi, didn't really show up. He was a passenger in that game. And then once you get a red card against a team that keeps the ball like Spain, it becomes really difficult. But also, by the end, you lose the World Cup and you turn your backs when Spain are lifting the trophy. It was all pretty bleak from that perspective, from Argentina.
And for people watching on the TV, that wouldn't necessarily have been picked up. You could pick that up in the stadium quite clearly, could you?
Yeah, yeah. I mean, in the stadium, I don't know how intentional it was because what happened was you had the Spain players going up to the podium one by one and the Argentina fans, well, they're everywhere in the stadium, but particularly behind that goal. And you have the Argentine players kind of going over to the fans. But it just looks pretty rude by the end because the Argentina players continue to just have all of them. So when it's all of them rather than just sort of one or two, it starts to look quite deliberate. Yeah. And, you know, there was a couple of moments, you know, Rodri goes up to get the golden ball and the Argentina fans are singing Messi's name over that. They're bowing down to him.
And look, I get it. He's like a god. He's like a god there. But this was also, you know, it was Spain's moment. And Spain had given Argentina a guard of honor when they went up to get their losers medals, runners up medals. So you thought at that point, maybe it would kind of be reciprocated.
And the temperament, as much as the football, left a bitter taste, especially right at the end with the scraps. And also, to be brutally honest, the way that they did try and leave a foot in here and there, as we'd seen against England once again.
Yeah, you used the word brutally. I think that brutality is a theme of their tournament, actually, which is in stark contrast to what we saw in Qatar 2022, where they weren't perfect. They lost to Saudi Arabia, but they grew into the tournament by playing football. And that's how they won it in absolutely spectacular style. In fact... They earned plaudits against England, we were there too, for playing football to beat them. It was the brutality, the butcher-like behaviour that was so sort of controversial before that. And we said at the time, it's not being wise after the event, Enzo Fernandes absolutely should have been sent off against England. He punched Elliot Anderson in the head.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–0:41
2
How did Spain win the World Cup final and what made their performance decisive?
0:41–7:23
3
Why was Argentina's conduct and temperament criticized after the final?
7:23–32:55
4
How did Lionel Messi react during the final and what might his future hold?
32:55–42:14
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Athletic FC Podcast
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