Spain boss De la Fuente praises team's resilience after battling win against Uruguay

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a] ‌finished the group stage with five goals ‌scored and none conceded, extending their unbeaten run to 34 matches and De la Fuente ‌called it a mark of ⁠pride for ‌his squad.[/p][p]Forward [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/santos-yeremi/8fnHDvMe/"]Yeremy Pino[/a] suffered what appeared ​to be a fracture and was likely to be out of the ​tournament, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-nico/Cp7lcVjJ/"]Nico Williams[/a] finished with minor discomfort, De la Fuente said[/p][p]The ⁠coach declined to ​criticise the referee, preferring to focus on his team's performance and said officials have tools such as VAR to manage difficult ‌matches.[/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="08a5a28d-97fe-487b-a7ab-4df7cca24adc" credit-line="StatsPerform via Opta" guid="3a722bb4-49c2-4a76-82d9-4053db89d20d" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]On his squad's depth in midfield, De la Fuente said [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pedri/baBG8QuI/"]Pedri[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ruiz-fabian/l6HSH2Uo/"]Fabian Ruiz[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/olmo-dani/2oVBOlPg/"]Dani Olmo[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/merino-mikel/QFt86bm1/"]Mikel Merino[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zubimendi-martin/fNI6Gsdr/"]Martin Zubimendi[/a] are all interchangeable depending on the opponent.[/p][p]He said Spain's main area for improvement was ball speed and fluidity of play, adding that defensively they ‌were "very strong."[/p][p][b]"I have total confidence in this ​group. It is a team that ‌wants to keep growing. We are on the right path, but every match from now on will be even more difficult,"[/b] the coach added.[/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/spain-bLyo6mco/uruguay-xMk44orG/?mid=8xM154oS"]Check out the match stats here[/a][/b].[/p]