'We want the national team to be a family': De la Fuente on Spain's World Cup hopes

[p]Kind, warm, smiling and armed with the serene certainty of someone who has spent ⁠more than a decade building his team piece-by-piece, he heads to the World Cup with a side many regard as the one to beat.[/p][p]De la Fuente, who spoke to Reuters before travelling to North America, said the secret of the European champions' rise ‌was more than a clear tactical path, a motivational speech or one man's genius but something simpler and warmer.[/p][p][b]"Some time ago, we began to emphasise a word that gave us ‌a great deal of security, confidence and strength - family'. We want the Spanish national team to be a family,"[/b] he said.[/p][p]“From ‌the first player to the last, we all work with that idea in mind and that makes me feel very calm, very serene. It makes me ‌work knowing that I am in good company and that gives me a great deal of confidence.”[/p][embed guid="715d2bc3-b216-4f17-be72-dcb9c001e0da" url="https://x.com/SEFutbol/status/2062648686442672562" social-type="twitter" /][p]That word has become ‌the spine of his [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a] outfit: a group bound not only by talent but by years of shared dressing rooms, junior tournaments, disappointments, trophies and trust.[/p][h2]De La Fuente's long and unusual route to the top[/h2][p]It has been a long and unusual route to the top for De la Fuente, once a hard-working full back who made his ‌name in the Basque Country with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ath-bilbao/IP5zl0cJ/"]Athletic Bilbao[/a] and built his coaching career largely away ⁠from club football's glare, spending a decade inside Spain's youth system.[/p][p]When he ‌was appointed Spain manager over three years ago, parts of the media mocked him as "Luis de la Who?" He was seen by many as a low-key ​federation man, orderly and diligent, but lacking the glamour usually demanded of such a job.[/p][p]His answer has been emphatic: Nations League glory in 2023, the European Championship in 2024 and a Spain side arriving at the World Cup carrying the confidence of ​a team that knows exactly what it is.[/p][p]A practising Catholic who strives to live according to his faith, De la Fuente said he had no interest in settling old scores.[/p][p][b]"Time proves you right and proves you wrong. Time puts everyone in their place. I knew what ⁠I had to do,"[/b] he said.[/p][p]"I'm not vindictive and ​I believe everyone should reflect on what they may have said or done and weigh it up. I haven't changed a bit since then. I'm still the same person, believe me ... My life hasn't changed.[/p][p][b]"I'm still doing exactly the same things I was doing three and a half years ago. I go to the same places, I go to the same restaurants, the same cafes, I walk down the street calmly doing exactly ‌the same things."[/b][/p][image alt="Spain's upcoming matches" id="b6ee4b76-4861-47f6-a7ae-85c087fb1ffb" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="95549a67-859d-406e-873f-7813fff0857b" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][h2]De La Fuente's greatest advantage[/h2][p]If others needed convincing, his players did not. De la Fuente's greatest advantage was once treated as a weakness: he rose step-by-step and took many of this generation with him.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/merino-mikel/QFt86bm1/"]Mikel Merino[/a] played under him in back-to-back European Under-21 finals against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/germany/ptQide1O/"]Germany[/a], losing in 2017 but winning two years later. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/oyarzabal-mikel/dQ1P695O/"]Mikel Oyarzabal[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/olmo-dani/2oVBOlPg/"]Dani Olmo[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ruiz-fabian/l6HSH2Uo/"]Fabian Ruiz[/a] were also part of that 2019 success and became senior European champions.[/p][p]Merino's first international title with De la Fuente came even earlier, in 2015, when he played alongside [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rodri/K0G8DB00/"]Rodri[/a] and goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/simon-unai/Ao9Vw3hi/"]Unai Simon[/a] in Spain's 2-0 win over Russia in the European Under-19 Championship final in Greece.[/p][p]From those older figures to Pedri, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zubimendi-martin/fNI6Gsdr/"]Martin Zubimendi[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cucurella-marc/QTynbZd3/"]Marc Cucurella[/a], players who were part of Spain's Olympic silver-medal campaign in Tokyo, De la Fuente has a squad that often appears to understand him before he finishes a sentence.[/p][p][b]"Our relationship goes beyond the purely professional,"[/b] he said.[/p][p]"With Rodri in particular, we've known each other for more than 10 years; ‌since 2015 we've been through a lot.[/p][p][b]"So I'm sure that in his life, and in the lives of many of the players who ​are with me today, there hasn't been a single coach who's been able to tell them things the way I've told ‌them. I guarantee it."[/b][/p][p]For De la Fuente, that intimacy is not just sentimental but them an edge.[/p][p][b]"They know that what I tell them comes from honesty, from integrity, and always with their best interests at heart, because they know me,"[/b] he added.[/p][p]"When someone speaks from a place of confidence, from that conviction, knowing that it will get through to you, touch your heart and convince you, well, I think we've already won a great deal.[/p][p][b]"Then, out on the pitch, put all your talent at the service of ⁠that idea. And at the service of your teammates – that's your job."[/b][/p][p]Their ⁠job will be to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/cape-verde-MocyWdm7/spain-bLyo6mco/?mid=Iiqjm5Pq"]first get past debutants[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/cape-verde/MocyWdm7/"]Cape Verde[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/saudi-arabia/biSY8ox4/"]‌Saudi Arabia[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/uruguay/xMk44orG/"]Uruguay[/a] in Group H as they bid to win the country's second World Cup title after Spain's 2010 triumph.[/p]