De la Fuente fulfills his mission: builds a Spain "for the future" with his own pending the RFEF elections

Like a soldier who is entrusted with a mission, Luis de la Fuente has fulfilled it. Spain will be in the Eurocup in Germany on June 14. The coach who was promoted against the odds could not have been more effective in his first ten months. He won the Nations League in June against the European champion, Italy, and the World Cup semi-finalist, Croatia, and takes Spain to the European Championship with seven victories and only a loss against Scotland.

What more could you ask of the coach? In results, almost nothing. In style, Spain is not brilliant but it is very recognizable, and in group cohesion, beyond those recruited – each Spaniard has his own call-up – it has debuted a dozen players and reduced the tension that surrounded the national team in previous stages, where the bench was more protagonist than the team. The prize, being in the Euro Cup.

“We deserved it. We deserve it. I am happy for all the people around me, an extraordinary coaching staff and some players who are the true protagonists. “We have completed the stages of the travel plan that we had set for ourselves and we have managed to give the impression of a cohesive and involved team, a team for the future,” said the coach.

De la Fuente is facing his first big opportunity and it may be his last. With a contract until June 30, 2024, his position was up in the air due to the applause for Luis Rubiales in the controversial August assembly, but he gained life to close the classification. Once the peak of the crisis has passed, his position will now be in the hands of the next president of the RFEF. Whether he is in Germany will depend on who is chosen in the first quarter next year. Logic indicates that the right has been earned and that when Spain finishes competing it will be the right time to decide its future. That happened with Lopetegui in the World Cup in Russia after Rubiales arrived at the Federation, but the Granada native struck him down in the middle of the competition. And it was expensive.

De la Fuente wants people to look and talk “only about football.” That's where your price goes up. He took the reins of Spain on January 1, 2023 and in the first window he made his first and only setback. They beat Norway, without Haaland, and were shipwrecked against Scotland with an eleven with eight changes that no one understood. From that slap, he learned. “You learn from good things, from not so good things, more. We all have to be humble. Since that night in Glasgow we have corrected things, but we haven't gone far from the script,” admitted the coach..

The victory in the Nations League allowed him to calm the rumor, which surfaced again in August due to a gesture and which once again silenced the defeats of Georgia and Cyprus. The resounding victory against Scotland and closing the classification in Oslo, without Haaland even scaring and with two games ahead, reinforce the Riojan's position. “All of Spain has to be happy. We have achieved the objective well in advance, and that will allow us to prepare in time,” warned De la Fuente.. Two already eliminated teams await in November, Cyprus and Georgia, and new friendly windows will arrive in March..

A very recognizable skeleton

In De la Fuente's young Spain there is already a very recognizable skeleton whose performance has reinforced the coach. The commitment to give stripes to Rodri and Morata, to trust in emerging players, such as Bryan Zaragoza or Lamile Yamal, and to keep footballers with more weight every day like Gavi, decisive in the victory against Norway. It leads to the chance that Pedraza, called up at the last minute due to Balde's injury, would enjoy a few minutes and be able to fulfill his dream of playing with the Spain shirt..

How have you achieved game and group cohesion in ten months? “Because we know Spanish football and the raw material, the players. We know which ones fit what we want in the game and in coexistence, which is very important,” reflected the coach..

Although Gavi's goal to beat the Norwegians came with five minutes of VAR suspense, as did Morata's annulment in the first half, the night was enough to celebrate. «We took a group photo, everyone was very happy because we always have to celebrate these things.. It is not easy to chain classifications for major championships. We are doing it and we must celebrate it,” Carvajal made clear.

With Spain in the qualifying pot along with Germany, the hosts, France, Portugal, Belgium, Scotland and Turkey, but what can we expect from the team after a comfortable classification? “This is not the time to compare ourselves to anyone.. Competitions are what put you in your place. But, because of the expectations that this team arouses in me, I am optimistic.”. De la Fuente has no doubts.