timeJosco Gvardiol was asked about Luis de la Fuente the night before Spain’s opening match of Euro 2024 and he replied: “Who?” Croatia’s The press officer came to his rescue, but if the defender felt a little embarrassed, the fact was that he was not the only one at the time who did not immediately recognize the name or know a lot about the Croatian coach. choose, their opponents were the next day. Before long, even some in Spain might have said similar things.
De la Fuente was born in Haro, La Rioja province, which he considers to be the best place on earth, and he is proud to be Spanish, Catholic and a bullfighting enthusiast. He loves eggs and chips, has a body like a brick outhouse, and sleeps about four hours a night. His father was a sailor and he loved Lodge He was fascinated by movies, he was fascinated by Rome and read everything he could. He loved Julio Iglesias and his favorite song was probably “Quixote.” He led Spain to their first trophy in more than a decade and now, a month after that press conference, in the same stadium, he has guided Spain to the final of Euro 2024.
All these things we know. Anyway, here we go. Not many people knew him when he took over as Spain coach just days after returning from a World Cup defeat in Qatar. They certainly didn’t expect to be able to bring the national team back to the top. The 61-year-old former full-back for Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla, his only senior coaching job came in 2011 with Alaves in Group 4 of Spain’s third tier of 80 teams. 11 bad games.
Knowing little doesn’t exactly convince people. He has coached the Spanish youth teams, leading the under-21 and under-19 teams to win the European Championship, but this is often regarded as a system’s success, and he is very low-key. There were other candidates for the job in Spain and his appointment was not exciting. He talked about changing styles, but it felt like both a message and a reality, like something he had to say that wasn’t revealed to be true until now.
De la Fuente was appointed by Luis Rubiales, who was not the first choice for sporting director, who later left, and was paid by Gareth Southgate (Gareth Southgate) and it doesn’t look like he’s going to have that kind of salary for long. “I thought: ‘This is a big bull,'” he admitted recently. Then, many people thought it was too big. When Spain were beaten 0-2 in Scotland, the criticism was fierce. The cover of “Shipwreck” shouts: as. brand Continued: “What’s the plan?” Worse, they said, he seemed to agree: “I’ve told the players this is the way to go,” he insisted after the game; . ” This “is unfolding according to the established plan we have established.”
Recently, there was a podcast called van Gaal’s notebook Some of the broadcast clips from that night have been restored and can be listened to: it was “Dante-esque,” “furious,” and he lived in “Disneyland.” “I have no idea what’s going on in his head,” one said. At these European Cups, the same announcer said: “Is there anyone who hasn’t boarded De La Fuente’s boat yet?” to the soundtrack of the ferry’s whistle.
Spain’s next game was against Georgia, which they won 7-1; that was the beginning, the moment de la Fuente said he saw “a family” begin to form. Six months later, Spain won the Nations League and now look at how they performed. “No one understands Spain’s present and future better than me,” de la Fuente said when he took over. “I’m not trying to show off, it’s just a fact.” Five of this team won the 2019 European Under-21 Championship with him: Dani Olmo, Fabian Ruiz and Mi Kerr Merino started in the final. Two years later, Olmo, Merino, Pedri, Marc Cucurella and Unai Simon joined him in winning Olympic silver.
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He also insisted there would be “versatility”, pace, width and that styles would change: “It would be wise to play on the counter,” he said. Although it was repeated many times, it felt like a recorded message, and maybe even the exact message he was conveying. have After exiting the World Cup with a thousand passes and one shot, that’s proven to be true. “He understands that we need time to digest these ideas, two or three concepts,” Rodri said before the game. “We were more vertical and had a little less possession.”
Against Croatia, Spain “lost” possession of the ball in an official match for the first time since 2008. Against Germany it happened again. Four teams have more possession at Euro 2024, including England. No one created more chances or scored more goals. Bit by bit, it all came out; and so did he, the public caution giving way to a more relaxed and charismatic man, cycling to Donaueschingen every day to train, where game after game, Game by game, he and his players made quite a name for themselves.
