World Cup Joy in Lamine’s Boyhood Home of Rocafonda

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said his team gave their utmost and he would need to think about what comes next for him in emotional remarks after his team lost 1-0 to Spain in Sunday's World Cup final. Spain needed an extra-time goal by substitute Ferran Torres to edge past 10-man defending champions Argentina.

"It was a dream place for everyone and we ‌tried up until ‌the very last minute to give our utmost ‌and ⁠I believe it ⁠is only fair to take this time to myself to think this through," Scaloni told reporters.

"I will talk to the president - I have an idea of what I would like to do. I will see out my contract and I feel the need to think as I don't know if something as big can be done and maybe we need to ⁠speak this through."

"I have never in my life - please ‌bear with me - I would have never ‌imagined, including my staff, that we would be in this place," Scaloni said, ‌tearing up and wiping his eyes.

DULL GAME

The flagship match of the ‌tournament was one of its least exciting with the teams playing each other to a stalemate until Torres made the breakthrough to avoid penalties.

But it came after a hard-fought campaign by Argentina, who had nail-biting matches against England, Egypt and ‌Cape Verde in their run to the final. It was also a disappointing, possibly final, chapter for Lionel ⁠Messi, one ⁠of the greatest ever footballers, who will leave this tournament empty-handed.

"It was crystal clear to me that he's going to play up until he decides (not to) do so and his team will support him... I hope that everyone feels proud of him, of what he's achieved because he's the best football player ever," Scaloni said.

Messi was also moved to tears on the pitch after the match, facing the Argentine goal where the team's fanatical supporters serenaded him and the other Argentina players.

"The fans, I'm sure, are struggling like us but these are moments to bounce back stronger," said Scaloni. "It's hard for people to enjoy being runners-up as much as being winners.... We have to go on."

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said a team-first mentality powered his players as they beat Argentina 1-0 on Sunday to win the World Cup for the second time and establish themselves as international football's dominant side.

De la Fuente, who at 65 became the oldest coach to guide a team to a World Cup triumph, led Spain to the Euro 2024 title and his team are now unbeaten in 38 matches in all competitions -- a ‌record for any ‌team from Europe or South America.

"In the past people were ‌surprised ⁠about footballers being ⁠talented and skilled and being good people," he told reporters.

"We are the most united team and that is thanks to having people with solidarity, values."

Spain beat the defending champions 1-0 after extra time, with the winner coming from substitute Ferran Torres in a testament to the group mentality that has propelled them through the tournament.

"I’m so proud of this generation of footballers who have grown up with this philosophy, remained ⁠true to it, made it even better, and set an ‌example as a team and a family – they’re ‌excellent, world-class footballers with exceptional talent," De la Fuente said.

"I’m very moved. Looking back and thinking ‌about them, we’ve won everything, absolutely everything, with this generation of players."

Spain conceded ‌only one goal in the tournament but struggled to find a cutting edge in front of goal for the first 115 minutes against an obdurate Argentina team, who were reduced to 10 men when midfielder Enzo Fernandez was dismissed for a second yellow card in ‌stoppage time at the end of 90 minutes.

NO HURRY FOR DECISION ON MY FUTURE

Asked whether he was considering staying ⁠on for the 2030 ⁠tournament, De la Fuente said he would take time to decide his future.

"We are where we want to be, we are privileged with our players," he said. "We are not in a hurry, we must enjoy this, maybe we're thinking about September and the next few matches, but this is something historic, let's take it one game at a time."

Matchwinner Torres said his goal belonged to the whole of Spain and expressed his relief at finally delivering for the team after criticism of his performances in the tournament.

"It was a goal scored by 47 million people – it wasn’t even mine or from the 26 players’. It was destined to happen; it was meant to be a winner," he said.

"Whilst all finals are tough, when you’re up against (Argentina's Lionel) Messi, you do get a bit nervous. We played better football."

Nervous excitement and rowdy cheers turned into anguished groans, nail-biting tension and tears, as Argentines' hope of yet another epic comeback led by Lionel Messi in the World Cup fizzled out against Spain.

At the Cafe Relax in the historic center of Buenos Aires, fans with tears in their eyes after the final whistle blew on the 1-0 defeat said that what saddened them most was that it was almost certainly 39-year-old Messi's last shot at a World Cup.

"I feel empty. Empty because of Messi, because I won't see him in a World Cup again. This is the last one," said Camilo Cichero, a 22-year-old architecture student who was comforting his crying friend.

"It's not how we expected it to go. At least it gives me peace of mind knowing he's already won everything there was to win."

Composing himself, his friend Juan Saenz, 22, a law student said: "This was the last of Messi ...it was the very end, and it finished this way."

"I was born while Messi was playing, and this was the end of that era."

But it was not all tears.

Around the city fireworks went off, car horns honked, and thousands of fans still made their way to the iconic Obelisk, the traditional place for football celebrations.

Initially crestfallen, they soon began partying again to celebrate their team and many said that despite the defeat, they would take to the streets to welcome the team home on Monday.

"Thank you so much, players!!! You fought until the very end. Argentina will always stand tall," President Javier Milei wrote on X.

- They gave it their all -

After a scrappy World Cup run built on a series of narrow victories, Argentines were confident they could pull off a second victory in a row in the final in New Jersey.

Draped in their blue-and-white flag and donning the national football jersey, they braved an icy cold day to pack cafes and public squares, fizzing with excitement at the start of the game.

In Cafe Relax, which displays a flag saying it is "forbidden to forget" the Falkland Islands, which Argentina invaded in 1982 only to be ejected by a British task force, nervous energy and excited chants gave way to tension by half-time.

In the second half angry shouts at the screen were interspersed with excited chants, and increasingly foul language, while some sat arms folded, feet tapping and chewing their nails or burying their heads in the flag.

"Oh no, it can't be, please, please!" wailed one woman when Enzo Fernandez was sent off for two yellow cards.

Before extra time began, Teresa Dolores del Rio Varela, 87, complained that "it drags on and on, and you start to get nervous. I'm happy, but I just want it to end because it's getting long."

Joaquin Romero, 22, who works in sales said the game was "incredibly complicated. I don't know how it'll happen, but it's going to happen for us. We're Argentine. We're champions and we're going to win."

It was not to be.

A dramatic extra-time goal by Ferran Torres cast a pall of silence over for the last agonizing minutes.

Cichero said he was sad for Messi but dismayed at the game.

"I didn't like how Argentina played. I didn't like the game plan, the substitutions, the players. I didn't like the referee."

Abel Torres, a 62-year-old retiree wearing a blue-and-white jester hat and blowing a vuvuzela throughout the game, teared up as he described the "incredibly emotional" game.

"Argentina gave it their all. Today was a true example of what Argentina is all about: that despite the hard times and the obstacles we face, we always rise again."

In Messi's hometown Rosario, hundreds gathered to celebrate the player and his team with fireworks and chants.

"We've already won a cup. We can't just break down in tears -- we have to celebrate. Messi has already put us at the very top of the world," Sergio Irrazabal told AFP.

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