Al final, se juega once contra once. El marcador al final en el discurso de los futbolistas como recurso desresponsabilizador

This paper examines the use of the expression al final by football players of the Spanish men’s national football team in press conferences. It proposes that al final carries an argumentative function of a pondering nature, meaning ‘all things considered’. This function leads to a series of contextual effects that are both epistemic and evidential, supporting the pragmatic strategy of intensifying the listener’s commitment to the truth of the statement while mitigating the speaker’s responsibility. It also serves to highlight shared knowledge – often in the form of football clichés – thereby closing off potential controversy and reinforcing affiliation with the football community.