Argentina’s mentality monster? Spain’s ultimate antidote | OneFootball

When the World Cup final kicks off today, the football world will be watching the usual suspects. On one side, of course, Lionel Messi, and on the other his designated heir, Lamine Yamal.

But the real decision could come in the phase coaches hate and fans love: crunch time. When legs grow heavy, Argentina’s hour traditionally strikes – Egypt, Switzerland and most recently England have already experienced that in the most painful way at this World Cup. But Spain travel to the final with a perfectly tuned antidote: Mikel Merino. Over the past few years, the 30-year-old has developed into the personified nightmare for opposing back lines in the closing minutes.

Merino’s path to the top of the world was anything but straightforward. Exactly ten years ago, he was regarded as one of the most sought-after talents in Europe. Borussia Dortmund signed the then 20-year-old from CA Osasuna. But instead of the hoped-for breakthrough, a sporting misunderstanding followed. Under tactical aesthete Thomas Tuchel, the sensitive Basque found no place in a star-studded midfield alongside Götze, Reus or Kagawa; instead, he had to fill in sporadically as a centre-back.

After just one year, he fled back home via Newcastle United. It was only at Real Sociedad that he found the consistency and self-confidence that ultimately allowed him to mature into a Champions League player. He first had to take a step back in order to build momentum for a truly great career.

The real turning point into the player he is today, however, came in London. Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta brought his compatriot to the Gunners after Euro 2024 with a clear vision. But fate struck cruelly in the very first training session: after a collision with Gabriel Magalhaes, Merino broke his shoulder and was sidelined for weeks. In hindsight, however, he described that enforced break as a mental blessing – it gave him the necessary time to analyse the Londoners’ system in detail and to develop further both tactically and physically.

In the end, it was also Arteta who awakened a completely new talent in Merino: despite his previously more defensive style of play, the coach at times converted him into a central attacker at Arsenal. An absolute masterstroke.

"I read on social media that I was supposed to start as a striker in the next game against Leicester. Honestly, I could only laugh and thought to myself: 'How can people talk such nonsense?' I had never played there before and absolutely wasn’t expecting it," Merino told 'FourFourTwo' ahead of the World Cup. 

📸 GLYN KIRK - AFP or licensors

"But then before the game, one of the Arsenal coaches came over to me and said: 'Hey, we’ve thought about using you right up front – not as a classic striker, but more like a midfielder operating furthest forward; so don’t worry about having to be a real striker.' That’s how it happened. I came on with 20 minutes to go, we needed a goal, and I immediately scored two. The rest is history."

What began as an emergency solution increasingly became the norm. "I think I have the attributes to be a good striker," he says. "I’m not the quickest, the kind who can threaten defenders with pace in behind the back line, but I’m smart enough to know where I need to be in the penalty area. It’s about reading the little signals – I spot them quickly and react accordingly."

Merino took that quality to a new level in the national team as well. Nine of his 12 international goals have come in the last year and a half. At Euro 2024, he already stunned Germany with his late headed goal in the 119th minute. At the ongoing 2026 World Cup, he is now taking that efficiency to the extreme – even though after a stress fracture in his foot at the start of the year, he had already been tipped to miss the World Cup. He fought his way back, but in the remaining second half of the season he managed only a meagre 28 minutes of playing time. Not exactly a compelling case for a World Cup call-up. 

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente nevertheless stuck with him, and Merino repaid him with two historic moments in the knockout stage. In the round of 16 against Portugal, he scored the winner in the 91st minute shortly after coming on. In the quarter-final against Belgium, he struck again as a substitute in the 88th minute.

It is precisely this ice-cold edge in the final minutes that could be Spain’s key in Sunday’s final. Argentina, who are themselves feared for their ruthlessly effective late attacking surges, now face the threat of a late sucker punch from Spain’s personified antidote, Mikel Merino. The "late-game disruptor" could turn the tables on Argentina.

He needs no warm-up time and no touches to settle in. He comes, he sees, he scores. If the final goes into its absolute closing stages and energy levels begin to fade, Argentina will not only have to fear Spain’s passing sequences – but above all the man lurking in the shadows, ready to strike when it hurts most.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 PAUL ELLIS - AFP or licensors