18 December,2022 09:19 AM IST | Doha | Ashwin Ferro
(Left) Lionel Scaloni; Didier Deschamps. Pics/Getty Images
While the Argentine and French players will be the shining stars on the Lusail Stadium turf during Sunday's World Cup final, it's almost impossible to ignore two other strategic minds plotting how the finale will pan out - Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni and his French counterpart Didier Deschamps.
While Deschamps, 54, a World Cup-winner as both player and coach, has been there and done that, Scaloni - 10 years his junior - has learnt the ropes quickly and adapted to tough match situations brilliantly here.
Argentina's difficult group fixture against Mexico is a case in point. When Mexican manager Tata Martino switched from his regular 4-3-3 formation to a backline-reinforcing 5-3-2, and Argentina [4-4-2] struggled to even reach their opposition box in the first half, Scaloni drew up a masterplan at half-time. Mexico had a back-five and four centre-halves with just two wingers, so Scaloni placed midfielder Guido Rodriguez between his center-backs Lisandro Martinez and Nicolas Otamendi, creating a false back-three. He however, instructed Guido to play closer to the Argentine midfielders and advance through the right wings and pressurise the Mexican wingbacks. Simply put, Scaloni used Rodriguez as a false deep defender, instead making him frequently function in attack mode to breach Mexico's wide wingbacks and open things up down the middle for Messi. In the 64th minute, Messi made apt use of this newfound space and scored.
Also Read: FIFA World Cup 2022: After Morocco, anti-Messi time!
A rattled Mexico eventually conceded another and lost 0-2.
Meanwhile, Deschamps has also had his tactical highs at this edition. In the semi-final against Morocco, after scoring early, France did not expect their opposition to retaliate and attack so aggressively. Deschamps though had a counter-strategy in place. He introduced winger Marcus Thuram in the 65th minute to apply pressure on the Moroccan defence and that, in turn, helped free up space for star forward Mbappe. In the 79th Mbappe made a fine run into the Moroccan box that was finished off by Randal Kolo Muani. Interestingly, Deschamps sent in Thuram for Olivier Giroud, thereby conserving his veteran striker's energy too, so that he can come out on Sunday and further swell his record (53 goals) as France's all-time leading striker.
Also Read: FIFA World Cup 2022: Croatia beats Morocco 2-1 to take third place
"In the semi-finals, Morocco started with a five-man defence, something which they had never done before in the tournament. So, you have to be ready for everything," Deschamps said at the final match-eve press conference at the Main Media Centre on Saturday, stressing on the significance of having to think on your feet at all times to emerge as a successful manager in the ever-changing, highly competitive world of football.
