Danny Neuman Critiques Messi's Performance in Spain's World Cup Final Victory

Football legend Danny Neuman analyzed the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina on Channel 14's 'Israel Today' program. Neuman stated that despite public expectations favoring Argentina, Spain was the superior team. He criticized Lionel Messi's performance as very weak, noting that Messi was barely involved in Argentina's play. Neuman described the match as lacking high quality, highlighting Spain's disciplined and dominant style, controlling possession about 70% of the time compared to Argentina's 30%. He pointed to the sending off of Argentina's Ansu Fernandez near the end of regular time as a decisive moment, which forced Argentina to play 30 minutes of extra time with ten men, a difficult situation as both teams were exhausted. Neuman praised Spanish coach De La Fuente for his successful substitutions, particularly players Williams and Fran Torres, who influenced the game's outcome. Regarding Messi's future, Neuman predicted he would not participate in the next World Cup due to his age, and criticized Argentina's coach Scaloni for not utilizing key player Lautaro Martinez. He concluded that Spain deserved their championship win. Neuman also expressed hope that Israel would qualify for the next World Cup, noting that despite the tournament expanding to 48 teams, Israel did not qualify this time.