untitled-design-2024-07-12t191457-389.png
Getty Images

Achieving greatness is rarely done solo. No matter what the profession, what gifts you were born with, and the skills and experience acquired along the way, it's more than likely that somebody was a key teacher or influence on the path to success. As Argentina prepare for Sunday's Copa America final and Spain do the same for the Euro 2024 final, the two high-flying national teams share something in common -- a bond between teacher and student. 

Spain boss Luis de la Fuente, 63, having worked for the Spanish FA since 2013, has coached the nation's U19, U21 and U23 teams. Now the senior national team boss, his side has been the best-performing one at the Euros, producing a stylish run to the final after beating France in the semis on Tuesday. The Spanish manager was actually Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni's professor back in 2017, when the now-46-year-old Santa Fe native was getting his coaching license before taking the Argentina U20 job a year later. 

Scaloni has deep ties to Spain, having played for Deportivo La Coruna, Racing Santander and Mallorca, and it's his home. His wife, Elisa Montero, with whom he has two children, is Spanish. But his ties with de la Fuente date back to the 16th of November of 2017 at La Ciudad del Futbol de Madrid in Las Rozas, where the Spanish soccer federation offers classes for those who want to get into coaching, including a special program for players who played at least eight years in Spain. There, Scaloni got his UEFA Pro license, the highest you could get, taking classes alongside former fellow Argentina national team players such as Javier Saviola and Fernando Redondo. 

"He was my professor, Luis de la Fuente, in the coaching course," Scaloni said in a press conference ahead of Tuesday's semifinal win over Canada when asked about Spain.  "Logically, I want Spain to do well. Aside from Luis having [been our professor], he gave us, the guys that did the course at Las Rozas in 2017, he helped us a lot. He's a great guy, I've had some talks with him, and I wish him the best. Truthfully, it's great to see how he talks, how he carries himself, how the players perform for him and do well for Spain. He's doing things very well. I have a part of my family that is Spanish, so I wish him success. Because they deserve it above all, so in this case, I go for Spain, logically."

Argentina, under Scaloni, continue their massive return to the global stage, looking to win back-to-back Copa Americas on either side of a monumental triumph at the 2022 World Cup, ending years of suffering, including a title drought that stood from 1993 until 2019. Spain did just that over 14 years ago when they won the 2010 World Cup along with Euro 2008 and Euro 2012. Now, both hope to add to the silverware their nations managed to accumulate with so many fans watching. As de la Fuente cheers on Argentina and Scaloni does the same for Spain, their history and what they've learned from each other is helping them achieve even more. 

"I've been lucky enough to teach various coaching courses. We taught this generation of footballers like Xavi Hernández, Xabi Alonso, Raúl. Football stars who now wanted to become coaches, and I had the luck to train Lionel Scaloni among them," de la Fuente said ahead of the win over France. 

"We have an exceptional relationship. He's a world champion. Sure, he was quite questioned at the beginning because he arrived with little experience, some say, but he's had the 'bad' luck of making Argentina champions of both America and the world, and now he's on his way to another."