Tuesday, October 15, 2024, 11:45 p.m.
| Updated 11:52 p.m.
There is no adversity or challenge that can shake the almost pristine line of Luis de la Fuente since he took over as senior coach, almost two years ago. Two titles out of two possible ones under his belt and on the way to a third, in the quarterfinals of the League of Nations, the Riojan this time weathered the storm of absences with flying colors.
The bar is so high that it is difficult to sustain it, but it does not worry the orchestra director in La Roja: «Blessed problem, God forbid that this continues like this. When you accumulate many victories you are closer to defeat, but this team is insatiable. He wants more and more, and we enjoy everything we do so much that it’s hard not to.”
«What surprises me is that these players surprise you. It seems that because they are not on certain teams they are not as good, but with more or less name they give the performance they do. I have made very few mistakes since I arrived here, let’s see if anyone remembers it,” he then claimed, remembering the value of the alternatives he has in the face of losses.
«It’s not about being enlarged, there are things that are as they are. Another person in these circumstances would use charisma and turn it off and let’s go. I’ll leave it there, dance it,” he pointed out in reference to the criticism of his attitude, which was significantly more vindictive in this national team break. «We form a fantastic, exceptional work group, from the physios and doctors to the props, and that gives great power. We all have the same merit, including the press,” he added, equally distributing the credit for the success to which Spain seems to be clinging in recent times.
The spirit of 2010
And the coach is clear about the formula for victory. «Recover what we call the ‘spirit of 2010’. The results are good but it is nice to see this audience. It’s impressive and makes me feel proud, but we all have to feed this breeding ground and not get into club conflicts. “This is the Spanish team and there are no clubs here,” he recommended.
«I am very happy about Morata. That they have chanted his name shows that things have changed. We have two penalty specialists, Álvaro (Morata) and Mikel (Oyarzabal), who also wanted Álvaro to take it,” he finally analyzed in relation to the constant support of the Córdoba public for Spain’s ‘7’ despite the penalty he missed.
