De la Fuente: “I face each game as if it were the last”

2023-06-14 16:57:27

Elevated to the front of the absolute after the fiasco in the World Cup in Qatar, two games have been enough to place Luis de la Fuente on a tightrope. Despite the fact that the Spanish Football Federation (FEF) transmits calm and reiterates confidence in the coach, the man from La Rioja is aware of how much is at stake in the final four of the League of Nations. The one from Haro understands it and assumes it naturally. “We think about reaching a final. We played to reach the final. There is no day after. I face each game as if it were the last. Put him as a starter », he pointed out at the press conference prior to the duel against Italy that will be played on Thursday at the Twente stadium.

«We played a title, a historic opportunity. It will be a great match against Italy that we face from the conviction, “explained the Spanish coach about an appointment that he faces as a privilege. «You have to value what the players and the coaching staff have done that have brought us here. It has to be a party. We face it with an illusion that is out of the ordinary. I see the team happy, happy and convinced that we can do something important, “added the coach in the Dutch town of Enschede.

«Demanding cannot be demanded. We are excited to achieve it. There is potential to win any title. I think we have a very powerful team, but we have rivals with the same potential as us. Italy is in this formation process, like us. We are consolidating an idea. We have many similarities. Now, it could be a Eurocup or World Cup final. Equality will be maximum. I see the team very well and we can do something very important. In these matches the details are final and we are going to try to live up to the demand,” argued De la Fuente, fully committed to the opportunity that is presented to him to return Spain to the top eleven years after the Euro Cup raised in Kiev that closed an unforgettable cycle.

«I always feel responsible for everything I do and I face everything with the same integrity. It is a historic opportunity, we represent a country that is devoted to us and we want to go down in history. It’s my job. I know what I have in my hands and that gives me a certain calm to deal only with what I can control, which is the daily work, “she reasoned. “I worry about what I can control. The bickering doesn’t take a second away from me,” she asserted.

Liable

“It is a historic opportunity, we represent a country that is devoted to us and we want to go down in history”

De la Fuente sees the team in a good line, despite the little time he has had to convey his football doctrine. «The handicap we have is the lack of time. Any coach lacks time, but I don’t discover anything. In four or five days you will tell me what can be worked on. The important thing is the quality of those minutes. We would like to have more days. To the extent that we can play games, train… the idea can be consolidated. We need the little time we have and make the most of it. Now we are going to be closer to what we want to transmit. In March I was not lucky when I said that we did not do self-criticism. I am very self critical. I see in training that the team is taking steps forward, “he stressed.

question mark in goal

He referred to the situation of Rodrigo Hernández and Aymeric Laporte, who arrived in the Netherlands yesterday after celebrating the Champions League won by Manchester City. «They will come with exceptional motivation and that always adds up. I am convinced that they will be prepared to play. It is fair that a triumph of these characteristics be celebrated, it costs a lot. I think it’s great that they celebrate it. I have no doubt that if we need them they will not fail, “he said about the two sky-blue players.

The coach hid his cards about who will occupy the goal, despite Unai Simón’s return to the group. “We haven’t decided yet. There is one training session left and we have to wait. I am exceptionally calm with the three goalkeepers we have. The three give us maximum guarantees”, remarked De la Fuente, who slipped that he will not necessarily have a fixed goalkeeper, although he did make it clear that he will “always” play with a center forward instead of with a false nine that they did use in their day some of his predecessors such as Vicente del Bosque or Luis Enrique.

Jordi Alba, during the press conference in Enschede.

Efe

Jordi Alba: “I’m not worried about being without a team”

Jordi Alba returns to the Spanish team with the captaincy award after the farewell to Sergio Busquets, but with his future tinged with uncertainty after leaving Barça. A situation that does not seem to worry the side. “If I was worried, I would not have made the decision before the end of the season. What is at stake is winning a title with the national team and after this tournament I will decide my future. It is not something that worries me being without a team right now, “said the Catalan in the preview of the clash that will measure Spain with Italy in the Final Four of the League of Nations.

Hopefully we can lift the title. Whether I’m captain or not, what interests me is lifting the title. We haven’t won any for eleven years and it’s a unique opportunity. We must be more united than ever, “proclaimed the captain of Spain, who denied that La Roja lacked a trade in the World Cup in Qatar and broke a spear for Luis de la Fuente. «I see him very calm. The training days are being very good and that is why I say that we all have to be united. Many times the players must take a step forward. He has the trust of the whole world and there is no doubt about the work he is doing,” he said.