Argentina president Javier Milei has confirmed he will not be attending the side's World Cup final showdown with Spain due to superstition. Milei, the leader of La Libertad Avanza coalition, will instead be watching on from his Quinta de Olivos residence in Buenos Aires, just as he has done for all of Argentina's previous matches at this summer's tournament.
Argentina's path to the final
The holders secured their place in a second successive final after coming from behind to beat England in Wednesday's absorbing semi-final, with Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez scoring in a stunning late fightback in Atlanta. The stage is set for what promises to be an incredible contest between Argentina and Luis de la Fuente's Spain, who secured their spot in the final with a comfortable 2-0 victory over France.
Milei's superstitious routine
When asked if he would be in attendance for tonight's spectacle at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, Milei replied: 'No way. I'm going to keep watching all the games from Olivos.' Going into further detail about his superstitious tendencies, Milei revealed how he would be wearing a particular jacket for the final, one which had served him well during Argentina's dramatic quarter-final victory over Switzerland. 'Since it's cold and I don't turn on the heat, I wear an oil company-branded jacket,' he added. 'The day of the Switzerland game, it made me really hot. I took it off, and they scored a goal against us. I put it back on and never took it off again.'
Spanish and US presence at the final
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has decided to make the trip to the United States for the final, along with the Spanish royal family – who will be watching on from a VIP box in New Jersey. US president Donald Trump is also going to be in attendance and is expected to hand over the World Cup trophy to the victors, having been absent throughout the rest of the tournament. 'Yes, hopefully we'll present the trophy together in the final,' FIFA president Gianni Infantino told Blue News. 'That's always been the plan, and that's how it's always been done in the past – the president of the country where the final is held presents the trophy together with the FIFA president.'
Trump's involvement and controversy
Though Trump has thus far declined to attend any World Cup matches, he has proven a constant source of controversy, perhaps most notably when he called Infantino to discuss Folarin Balogun's red card before the striker's one-match ban was suspended. He even weighed in on Thomas Tuchel's cautious tactics in the aftermath of England's semi-final loss to Argentina, criticising the Three Lions' ultra-defensive approach after taking the lead. 'You have a great player in England, who I play golf with, you know that, right? And he is Harry [Kane], who has been fantastic,' Trump said during a press conference in Trump Tower. 'I think they perhaps made a mistake when they made him a defensive player – what do I know about soccer? They took the lead and they took their best player and they put him on defence. But somehow, now – we've got to be a little offensive, right? But no, I'm not going to call it. Look, what do I know about coaching? But that was a little unusual.'
Tuchel's response to Trump
Asked about Trump's remarks before England's bronze-medal match win over France, Tuchel replied: 'Do you use Donald Trump as your witness for the case?! If you are asking if you regret my decision, if this is the question then no I don't regret my decisions because I felt that we became too passive. I felt that the momentum switches in the match and I tried to help my team. I tried to support, I took several decisions trusting my instinct, my intuition, my experience, trusting my competitiveness and I took the decisions to help my team to get the result. We didn't get the result so I take personal responsibility for these decisions but the decisions are made under stress, this is in-game live coaching. I would regret if I didn't try to help, if I didn't react, but I have no regrets over the decisions I made.'
This year's World Cup final between Spain and Argentina kicks off on Sunday, July 19 at 8pm BST.
