The classroom moment that bonds finalists De la Fuente & Scaloni forever

The classroom moment that bonds finalists De la Fuente & Scaloni foreverImage source, BBC SportPublished2 minutes agoCommentsThe teacher against the student.Spain manager Luis de la Fuente and Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni will contest the World Cup final having got to New Jersey by different means - but they will always have one thing that bonds them together.Back in 2017 in Scaloni's post-playing limbo, he enrolled at the Spanish federation to study for his Uefa Pro Licence, the highest coaching qualification in European football. It was there that he first met De la Fuente, who was teaching the technique module and was, at the same time, still in charge of Spain's Under-19s. Scaloni passed the course with one of the best marks in his year, and has said since that De la Fuente gave him and his classmates "an enormous hand".The bond between the two men has remained ever since.De la Fuente is the product of a system, Scaloni made in the particular dressing-room culture of Argentine football. But they have much more in common. Both became national coaches after periods when football seemed to have left them behind and both have built teams that function at their core like families, with values as close to sport as to the Catholicism they both practise.De la Fuente is bidding to become a World Cup winner and European champion at the same time, while Scaloni is 90 minute away from defending his world title.Not bad for two men who have not managed a top-flight club game between them.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Neither Luis de la Fuente (left) nor Lionel Scaloni have managed at a top-flight clubThe phone call that kept De la Fuente in footballDe la Fuente grew up in Haro, in the wine region of La Rioja, home of the Batalla del Vino, the annual wine battle where thousands dress in white and drench each other in red wine. After retiring as a player in 1994, he spent 15 years in different roles with a succession of different clubs, inclu...