Tim Vickery: Expect dark arts and a Scaloni surprise as Argentina bid to disrupt Spain

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The World Cup final is a meeting of the sorcerer and the apprentice as Lionel Scaloni gets ready to pit his tactical prowess against Luis de la Fuente.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni lives in Spain and when he did his coaching badges a decade or so ago, who was the trainer on the course? It was De la Fuente.

Scaloni will come up with something different for this final because he always does. Four years ago in the final against France it was the decision to put Angel Di Maria back into the starting 11 – and not in his normal position on the left but on the right-hand side instead.

The French were not expecting it, Argentina went 2-0 up and Di Maria was hugely influential. 

It's hard to guess what he will come up with, but I don't think he will just allow Spain to pass their way around Argentina without looking to find a solution.

Maybe it is something Thomas Tuchel can learn from because Scaloni is always looking for ways to take the initiative and this tournament probably shows us that international football and club management are two separate things.

Tuchel and Carlo Ancelotti – the two big-name appointments for this tournament – both made bizarre substitutions and paid the price whereas Scaloni and De La Fuente are only really known for their work at international level, but do it so well.

One way Argentina could disrupt Spain is to make the game dirty, as they did in the first half against England. They did that because they were terrified of England's pace and yet when they chased the match in the last 30 minutes there was no funny business.

Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic will need to be tough because if he isn't this could threaten to turn into a repeat of the 2010 final when Spain faced some brutal challenges from Netherlands. In this edition Argentina would definitely be playing the role of the Dutch.

Tactically and from a personnel point of view there will be that element of surprise from Scaloni, but in terms of the dark arts I think that is almost a given unless the referee gets his cards out early on.

Argentina would rather play Spain than France in the final. The pace and power of that front four would have been a nightmare for Argentina which is why I am still struggling to understand why Tuchel kept removing that speed on the counter when England were trying to hold their 1-0 advantage in Wednesday's semi-final.

Harry Kane is just another striker if he doesn't have that pace either side of him, so to take off Anthony Gordon was bizarre. I just don't see De La Fuente making the same mistakes.

It's not quite happened for Lamine Yamal in this World Cup and he is not 100 per cent fit. However, you do wonder if he is going to be the difference in the final and it will be a tough match-up for 33-year-old left-back Nicolas Tagliafico, who has never been a great defender even at the best of times.

Scaloni moved Enzo Fernandez to help block Jude Bellingham in the semi-final and he will look for someone to help Tagliafico. Yamal, though, will fancy his chances and even more so if Nico Williams were fit to start on the other flank as he helps to stretch the play even further.

Although I make Spain favourites, it is not going to be easy. Argentina have shown their fight throughout this World Cup when they could quite easily have lost in every knockout round.

They have won everything in the last five years and have shown great capacity to dig themselves out of holes,. They will not panic even if they find themselves 1-0 or 2-0 down.

Tuchel did not cover himself in glory in the semi-finals and I felt the hydration break was the time to reset because the English players had already started retreating. But he compounded the problem rather than attempting to regain the ascendancy.

But even taking all that on board there was a lot to like about the way Argentina chased England down despite the scoreboard and time pressure.

The quality of crosses from Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul was outstanding and let's face it, Argentina could have had four or five goals by the time Lautaro Martinez put the final nail in England's coffin.

Worrying times for South American teams

If we talk about only on-field matters then this World Cup has been much better than I had feared it would be and full credit to the players for overcoming the punishing schedule and high temperatures to put on a fabulous show.

The stars came out to play in the group phase when there was a feel of exhibition to it given the lack of jeopardy but my assumption was the knockouts would turn out to be cautious. Thankfully, I was wrong and this was not like USA '94 which had been my reference point. 

Brazil lifted the trophy back then but were a disaster this summer. The margins are so tight at international level and if Bruno Guimaraes had scored his penalty against Norway, or Endrick had scored when he was one on one it might have looked different, but in every tournament since 2002, Brazil have gone out as soon as they have faced decent European opposition.

That success in 2002 looks like an outlier for Brazil. There were a lot of strange results in South Korea and Japan because the tournament was played so early and I just think everyone was knackered.

This might sound strange given Argentina are in the final, but I am fearful for South American football overall. 

Brazil have to do better, but Ecuador and Paraguay made the knockouts through team spirit and hard graft whereas all the skill came from African and European teams.

Read more on the World Cup final:

Spain vs Argentina: 13-2 Bet Builder tip, odds, team news 

Spain vs Argentina World Cup Bet Builder tips, picks and odds 

Mark Langdon: The best and worst of the World Cup – Messi magic, Murphy's cat and one sickening 'Siuuuu!' 

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