De la Fuente claims: "We have never doubted"

Serene, with aplomb, as if nothing more than the pass to the Nations League final had been at stake against Italy. Luis de la Fuente has stoically carried the rumor that he was facing his first big test as coach. Joselu in 88 was in charge of clearing up the doubts that the coach assures that he never felt. “We have never doubted. From within we are convinced that this was going to come out, that the job was well done, that it is a process that takes time, but that it was going to come out,” he assured without hardly chewing that on Sunday he will play for a title against Croatia.

Luis Rubiales breathed more in the box than De la Fuente on the bench. “I am very happy for Luis because he has done a great job. Very good for the boys, and for those who have entered”, admitted the president of the Federation. It was that plan B of the coach that ended up giving him the victory and allowing everyone to catch their breath. “I carry it naturally because everything ends up being put in its place. My coaching staff is fantastic and the players are convinced of the message we convey to them and what we are looking for with them”, assured the coach, delighted with the “commitment” of all the players and, especially those who changed the game from the start. dock.

The night was expensive for a team that had two questions and cleared them up. The first was who would inherit the command of Sergio Busquet. It has taken almost nothing to show that it will be Rodrigo Hernández. It was the balance of the eleven, with an intimidating presence in the midfield that, although at times it seemed that it was not going to be enough to defeat Italy, ended up taking a shot that Joselu caught to give the victory and the pass to the final.

The man from Madrid played it without fear, who had already searched for the goal in a semi-Chilean shot that went over the crossbar. It would have been brilliant to close a historic season in which he has been crowned with a goal. The couple that formed the citizen with Mikel Merino was a green shoot that was seen in the game. And that he was, together with Laporte, the last to join the concentration after winning the Champions League and celebrate it, although it was much more prudent than Jack Grealish.

Joselu, in the orbit of Real Madrid, cleared the other, the doubt of the goal. He has become the effective forward that the coach was looking for. Three goals in three games, double against Norway and last night against Italy. The three leaving from the bench and in the last minutes. “I have been mischievous and attentive to Rodri's shot. It has been a victory of faith in a very complete game”, assured the scorer, who thus removes the bad taste in his mouth from the relegation of Espanyol.

It was difficult for Spain to find a way to hurt a coarse Italy in attack, which was losing sight of itself as the minutes went by, protected by a conservative system and with the same punching problems as Spain. “In the Eurocopa I saw them stronger”, summarized Laporte. Despite everything, they had choices that turned the feeling that suffering could be avoided into a mirage.

The fault was Gavi's mischief, Jeremy Pino's robbery of Bonucci with a pipe and the precious beating of the canary to, in three minutes, beat Donaruma. Then De la Fuente's eleven did not seem unreasonable, except for Nacho, Carvajal and Asensio, who arrived at the stadium with long faces after learning of the coach's bet.

Before the “immortals” of Croatia

The returns of Navas and Rodrigo Moreno to ownership were accompanied by the debut of Le Normand as Laporte's French-speaking partner. Except for the Sevillian, who at 37 years and 207 days became the oldest player to wear the Spain shirt, the rest took too long to work. The insecurity they conveyed was a headache. The Real central defender had to suffer when after ten minutes the referee awarded him a penalty for hands. They lamented and applauded to scare away the bad luck on a day that had been waiting for months. “These are things that happen in football. You had to have a cool head,” acknowledged the player, who thanked Laporte and Navas for their help.

Less happy, Rodrigo Moreno retired at halftime. The Leeds forward, who has only scored four goals in 2023, was replaced by Asensio and the entry of the next PSG player was a shock that made Spain play more in the area. He took a cross from Merino that Donnarumma saved point-blank and that Morata could not herd. It was also the turn of Unai Simón to be the protagonist against Frattesi, who had a goal disallowed in the first half and crashed into the Basque's feline reflexes.

Even so, Canales, Fabián, Ansu Fati and, above all, Joselu had to come off the bench to clarify a sticky match that leads Spain to a final against the “immortals”, as Rubiales, from Croatia, defined them.