The Almost Perfect Path of Luis de la Fuente

The national team reached the quarterfinals of the Nations League.. Now it’s business as usual for La Roja and their coach. Science fiction just over a year and a half ago when he lost in Scotland In his second game in charge of the absolute national team and federation, which was still led by Luis Rubiales, his dismissal was considered after that painful failure against the Scots.

It’s still The only defeat of Luis de la Fuente as part of the absolute team in an official match. He just adds another goal against Colombia in one of the friendly matches in preparation for the EuroCup. Otherwise there are two draws. One against Brazil in a friendly match and the other against Serbia in the first match of this Nations League.

De la Fuente had to deal with fears from those who considered him a coach with no experience of leading a top team, and from those who did not value the work with the lower divisions as deserved. And in the background there was still the shadow of Luis Enrique, in the style of what happened with Mourinho at Real Madrid for years. It’s a matter of character, apparently. But neither Mourinho made it past the Champions League semi-finals with Real Madrid, nor did Luis Enrique make it past the 1/8 finals of the World Cup in Qatar.

And De la Fuente gets tired of making excuses every day. after winning two tournaments in which he led the Spanish national team: the Nations League and the European Cup. Although there were also voices that, just over a year ago, recalled that Luis Enrique was the coach who qualified Spain for the final stage of the Nations League. The same voices that seemed to have forgotten that Robert Moreno was the coach who took La Roja to the 2021 EuroCup under the current PSG coach and in which they lost in the semi-finals.

And the coach justifies himself, and also justifies some of the players. what he always believed in. “I know the people, the players very well. I’m surprised that these players are surprising. Since they are not on certain teams, they don’t seem to matter as much as others, but I know them very well and know what kind of gigs they offer, with a smaller name or a bigger name. “It’s a safe value,” he says. “Since I came here, I have made very few mistakes. What I said has come true. We have a present and a future,” he warns.

And he’s right. Mistakes are rare. He made a mistake in that defeat in Scotland, where he replaced almost the entire team and corrected it in time. The team is now a recognizable team. Although they have a lot of losses, and only four starting players play in the EuroCup final, as happened with Serbia. And when asked about the coach’s role in these successes, it’s time to gather the banknotes and throw a dart at former coach Luis Enrique, although without mentioning his name.

“We are forming a fantastic and wonderful working group, the best in the world. We are a family, there is one person who is the visible head, but we all work and have the same merits. It’s a team effort and it will make everything easier,” he says before dropping the bomb. “The point is not whether it will be increased or not, there are things that are true: the Earth is round, you can’t argue with that. I’m very calm, I don’t change, I don’t increase, but if I were, I would deserve it because Another one in these circumstances that I don’t even want to tell you about. I would use charisma, turn it off and go. I’m humble, I’m educated and I’m not going to changebut I’ll leave it there. “Dance,” he adds.

De la Fuente wanted to bring back the spirit of 2010. And he is here. Nobody remembers that he was once going to be fired from La Roja.