SPAIN coach Luis de la Fuente says they know better than to ma-mark Lionel Messi in Sunday's final.
Luis de la Fuente said Spain planned to pay "special attention" to Lionel Messi in Sunday's World Cup final but ruled out trying to man-mark the Argentina captain.
De la Fuente told reporters at a press conference on Friday that he knows from experience the challenges of using man-to-man marking against the eight-time Ballon D'Or winner.
The Spain coach recalled an experience from when he was coaching Sevilla's youth team while Messi was playing junior football for Barcelona, underlining how it was impossible to keep him quiet for the whole match.
"I first encountered him when I was coaching the Sevilla youth team," he said. "We went to Barcelona, and I had heard great things about a kid named Messi.
