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Luis de la Fuente: "We are facing a historic opportunity"

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The national manager underlines the enormous importance of the Nations League semi-final against Italy: "We are privileged to be here"

"We are playing for a title". With the conciseness of these words, the national manager began his speech at the press conference prior to the Mediterranean derby that will decide this Thursday the name of the second finalist in this edition of the UEFA Nations League.

For Luis de la Fuente, this "is a historic opportunity because we are two matches away from winning a title and the first of them will be a great match against Italy, something that could be the final of a European Championship or a World Cup".

The manager from La Rioja has furthered this idea, stating that "we are privileged to be here and we have to value what the players and the coaching staff have done to achieve this qualification. It is a prize for everyone".

For this reason, De la Fuente will face it "as the last match of my sporting life. Something that is usual because I always face every match like this. I feel a sense of responsibility for everything I do and even more so now, when the whole country is behind us.

The situation of the team is very positive for the manager, with the latest additions of Rodrigo Hernandez and Aymeric Laporte, whom he sees "with more motivation than ever" to join a group of players "in which everyone has the same chances of being a starter, including the three goalkeepers with whom I am completely at ease".

The preparation period has been shorter than desired for the player from Haro, although "we know that the handicap we coaches have is the lack of time. What is vital is the quality of those minutes. We will surely be up to the task and there is potential to do something very important".

De La Fuente sees Italy "with many similarities to Spain" and hopes that Thursday's semifinal will be one to remember: "I am a man of faith and we have to think about our cycle. We must write our own history," he said.