How To Stop Lamine Yamal? Argentina Coach Gives Hilarious Reply: "Lock Him"
Argentina football team head coach Lionel Scaloni came up with a hilarious reply when he was asked about stopping Spain youngster Lamine Yamal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 final.
- Lionel Scaloni came up with a hilarious reply when he was asked about stopping Lamine Yamal
- Scaloni joked that locking Yamal in his room is the best way to stop the talented star
- "How to stop Yamal? I wish we could lock Lamine in his room!" the Argentina coach said
Argentina football team head coach Lionel Scaloni came up with a hilarious reply when he was asked about stopping Spain youngster Lamine Yamal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 final. Scaloni joked that locking Yamal in his room is the best way to stop the talented star. He went on to praise youngster and said that he has shown tremendous talent at his age. "How to stop Yamal? I wish we could lock Lamine in his room! Lamine Yamal is a truly exceptional player. This kid is a treasure for football, and he's still so very young, with so much more to offer. He's a talent who will bring Spain a lot of joy in the future… but we hope that won't be on Sunday. He's, like Leo, one of those players who's incredibly hard to mark," he said in a video that has gone viral on social media, according to X account All About Argentina.
Scaloni also provided a sneak peek into Argentina's preparations for the summit clash against Spain.
"We analysed Spain because we were supposed to face them in March, but since December we had also been studying every possible opponent at the World Cup. In the end, we did not analyze Spain more than any other national team. When you look at the path through the World Cup, we studied every team that could potentially reach this stage, and there were many opponents that we analysed," he said.
Scaloni paid tribute to Lionel Messi ahead of Sunday's World Cup final, urging fans to cherish what will likely be the Argentina captain's last appearance on football's biggest stage.
Argentina will bid to become the first team to win back-to-back World Cup trophies since Brazil in 1962 when it meets Spain in the title decider in New Jersey.
"He is pure history. He is a legend," Scaloni was quoted by Xinhua as saying. "For him to reach a final at 39 years of age is something unbelievable. That's why I say we must enjoy him."
Scaloni said Messi's achievement was made more meaningful by the absence of Diego Maradona, who led Argentina to the title in 1986. Widely regarded as one of the game's greatest players, Maradona died in 2020 at the age of 60.
"Sadly, Maradona is no longer with us, so we have to enjoy him. He is a legend, along with this group of players," he said.
"It's very difficult to achieve this," he added, alluding to a five-year period that has also included two Copa America triumphs.
"This group has achieved something that is unbelievable. I'm deeply thankful, I will be thankful forever. It wasn't easy to reach this final, having competed at such a high level for so long. Even if we don't win, the journey has been unbelievable."
Asked whether Sunday's final could be Messi's last match for Argentina, Scaloni declined to speculate.
"Ask him. I didn't have any idea. He doesn't stop surprising us," he said. "This is a question you should ask him."
(With IANS inputs)
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