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Luis de la Fuente: ‘Anyone wanting to beat us will have to do things very well’.

The national coach appeared at a press conference after the victory over Serbia at the Nuevo Arcángel in Córdoba.
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Wed, 16/10/2024 - 00:03

Luis de la Fuente spoke to the media following Spain's 3-0 win over Serbia to seal qualification for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Nations League. The coach began by giving credit to the fans: ‘I want to thank Cordoba, the reception we got the other day has been repeated again tonight. It was exceptional. This enthusiasm from the fans makes us very happy. The fans identify with the team’.

‘When you've won a lot of games in a row, eventually, you’ll lose, but this team is insatiable in sporting terms and always wants more. We enjoy every situation and every game. We'll see how far we get and when we don't succeed, it will be because the other team are very good. And, we'll have to understand that this is sport. Anyone wanting to beat us is going to have to do things very, very well indeed,’ stated the coach after the victory over Serbia.

When asked about the squad, Luis de la Fuente stressed the strength of his team: ‘We have a present and a future and it's showing’.

‘I have a wonderful coaching staff, the whole delegation is a close-knit family. There is one person who is the visible head, but we all have the same merits, we are a team. We have the advantage that we know the players very well and they never let us down,’ boasted De la Fuente.

On the union with the fans, the national coach commented that ‘good play engages the fans, but this is not only achieved with results. It's great when you arrive at a stadium and they support you, to see this reaction from the fans in our country makes me happy and makes me proud. We all have to keep helping this come to fruition, there are no clubs here, this is everyone’s Spanish national team’. 

The national coach spoke about Álvaro Morata's goal: ‘I'm really happy for him, the fact that they chanted his name means that things are changing. We are giving just rewards to a great player and a great person. 

Luis de la Fuente concluded the press conference by reflecting on Spain's style: ‘Today we occupied the flanks in a different way, knowing that we have two full-backs who get forward a lot, today we didn't need so much depth from our wide players. It's not about changing an idea, we're always faithful to it, but we rely on the qualities and characteristics of each player. It makes us more unpredictable, we have more styles and we are more versatile’.

 

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