Scaloni and De la Fuente: the duel of the coaches in the World Cup final

Scaloni and De la Fuente, teacher and student, face each other in the World Cup final.

The World Cup final between Argentina and Spain in New Jersey has a special background on the benches. Luis de la Fuente, coach of Spain, was Lionel Scaloni’s teacher in 2017, when the latter took the coaching course in Las Rozas.

Both face each other for the first time in a decisive match. Scaloni remembers it like this:

“In addition to having been my teacher in the coaching course, I have had a particular relationship with him, because I like his closeness and coincidentally today we met in a final.”

De la Fuente, for his part, expressed his admiration: “I am an admirer of him in football and he is a great person.”

RelatedScaloni and the challenge of retaining the World Cup crown

Two profiles without clubs

Scaloni and De la Fuente share that they have never coached professional clubs. In a World Cup with coaches like Ancelotti or Tuchel, they represent the traditional national team coach. Its success does not depend on tactics, but on human management.

“The most important thing is to manage a group, beyond tactics,” said De la Fuente, who took charge of Spain after Qatar 2022.

Scaloni, nicknamed the “accidental coach”, took over in 2018 after leaving Russia. Despite Maradona’s criticism – “Scaloni? He can’t even direct traffic” – he led Argentina to the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa América.

Firm decisions

Both technicians do not hesitate to leave out figures. Scaloni defeated Rodrigo De Paul in the semifinals; De la Fuente excluded Pedri to make way for Fabián Ruiz. “We do what we believe the party needs,” Scaloni explained.

Scaloni lives in Mallorca and has a Spanish family, but on Sunday he will look for victory: “I’m sorry, we’re going to try to beat them.” Someone will be crowned, but the respect between teacher and student has already been sealed.

Canelo Álvarez changes fight date due to family matters

The boxer from Guadalajara reveals that he had to attend to family problems before training. New date in October.

Canelo Álvarez changes the date of his next fight

Mexican boxer Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez delayed his fight against Christian Mbilli, initially scheduled for September 12 in Saudi Arabia. The new date will be October 31, the boxer reported.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Álvarez explained that the decision responded to family issues that he had to resolve before concentrating on training.

“There were some problems with my family that I had to fix, but everything is fine now… I was not ready to go to camp, that’s why I postponed the fight, because I had to take care of the family first,” he declared.

The fight will be for the World Boxing Council super middleweight title, a category where Mbilli is the current champion. The fight will mark Álvarez’s return to the ring after his loss to Terence Crawford in Las Vegas.

The weekend of October 31 coincides with the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix and the Day of the Dead celebrations, which adds an additional attraction for the Mexican public.

Canelo assured that he is now ready to train and that the postponement will not affect his preparation. “I was always very disciplined and organized,” he added.

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MLS investigates Inter Miami for signing Casemiro

The current champion would have negotiated improperly with the Brazilian, according to league rules.

Inter Miami announced the signing of Brazilian midfielder Casemiro. The MLS began an investigation to determine whether the club engaged in improper negotiation.

Investigation for possible manipulation

Casemiro’s discovery rights belonged to the LA Galaxy. According to the rules, that prevented Inter Miami from negotiating with him without authorization. Both teams reached an agreement that allowed the signing, but the league continues to investigate.

“The league is gathering all relevant information and will refrain from further comment until the review is complete,” MLS said. “Although Inter Miami and LA Galaxy have reached an agreement for the discovery priority of signing Casemiro, the terms will be published upon conclusion of the manipulation investigation.”

Casemiro, 34, appeared in all five of Brazil’s games at this year’s World Cup and scored one goal. His contract with Inter Miami runs until the end of the 2027 “sprint” season, with an option to extend until June 2029.

Statements upon arrival

The Brazilian expressed his motivation: > “What motivates me the most, and I think this is true for any player, is winning and continuing to grow. The project that the club presented to me, along with the effort that everyone made to bring me here, means a lot to me.”

David Beckham, co-owner of Inter Miami, highlighted: > “He is a winner who has achieved a lot in football and, after such an extraordinary career with Real Madrid and Manchester United, I am very happy that he has decided to make Miami his new home.”

Casemiro spent the last four seasons at Manchester United. Before, most of his professional career was spent at Real Madrid, where he won five Champions Leagues. It is still not known when he will debut with Lionel Messi’s team; The club is waiting for the necessary visa.

Beginning in early 2027, MLS will have an abbreviated 14-game regular season before aligning with international schedules. Each of the 30 teams will play seven home games and seven away games, only against rivals from the same conference.

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Cruz Azul is the absolute leader; Pumas defeat Toluca on Matchday 2

Cruz Azul leads with a perfect pace; Pumas comes back to Toluca and shakes the table.

The Apertura 2026 table of Liga MX had its first strong movements after the two early games of Matchday 2.

The movements at the top

Cruz Azul is the absolute leader with six points, the only ones in the tournament with a perfect pace. La Maquina beat Puebla 2-1 at the Banorte Stadium and has five goals in favor against three against.

Pachuca, Tijuana, Atlas, Toluca, Monterrey, Necaxa, América, Puebla and Pumas follow with three units —although several have a game pending. Puebla fell to ninth place; Pumas rose to tenth after its first victory.

University comeback

The surprise of the date came at Nemesio Díez. Toluca took the lead in the 14th minute with a goal from Jorge Díaz, assisted by Helinho. But in the second half, the Auriazules reacted: Víctor Arteaga tied it in the 57th with a left-footed shot, and seven minutes later Sebastián Córdova headed in a cross from Rodrigo López to turn the score around.

Keylor Navas was a figure in maintaining the advantage with key saves. Toluca was left with three points and its first setback.

The other advance

Cruz Azul suffered against Puebla. Fernando Monárrez opened the scoring for La Franja; Luka Romero equalized. When everything pointed to a tie, Christian Ebere gave the capital’s victory in the final minutes.

Both duels were brought forward because Cruz Azul and Toluca will compete this weekend for the Champion of Champions.

What’s coming

Matchday 2 will continue from Friday to Sunday with Atlante-América, Tijuana-León, Guadalajara-Juárez, Santos Laguna-Atlas, Tigres-San Luis, Necaxa-Monterrey and Pachuca-Querétaro. The classification is just beginning to be defined.

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