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Note: All of Luis de la Fuente's comments were translated from his native Spanish.
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY — Spain manager Luis de la Fuente was on cloud nine after leading La Roja to their second ever World Cup, denying Argentina the trophy with a 1-0 win at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
"I never thought of anything like this," De la Fuente said. "I always just wanted joy in moments. When you look back at this process, I would not have achieved anything without these players. The journey with this raw material, this talent. Spanish footballers, the way they compete. These players are amazing."
MORE — Rodri ever the maestro as Spain keep cool vs Argentina’s street fighters
De la Fuente heaped praise on his players and staff, and also had some banter for Marc Cucurella regarding the Real Madrid defender's much-publicized vow to get a tattoo of his coach's face if they won the World Cup.
"I’m no longer of an age to be getting tattoos," De la Fuente said, mentioning that other players had been looped into the vow. "I already told them they were wrong to say they’d get my face tattooed, because they’re men of their word and they’re going to follow through. I am not so ugly, though."
The great motivator had been praised for getting his team to buy into a collective that often asked the individuals to sacrifice some of their preferred playing methods on the pitch, and that includes teenager Lamine Yamal.
Yet it's easy to see why players want to follow the man after he lifted the lid on what he told them before the game.
“I said gentlemen we have an appointment with history, and we want to be there first,” De la Fuente said.
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Opening thoughts: "First of all I would like to thank the whole staff and everyone who worked with us," De la Fuente said. "The players are the true protagonists. Someone said after the semifinal happiness must feel like this but also we feel pride and satisfaction to great players and humans who will go down in history."
How are you feeling? "Well what are we feeling? Satisfaction, pride. It's such an honor to be the coach of these amazing players and have such an amazing staff with everyone at our training camp. Rodri, we've always said that he's the best player in the world. He has so much future ahead of him. I hope that when players go through tough times, we are more patient and we do not try to undermine the players journey because he can win the next Ballon d'Or as can so many of our players."
On what's next for Spain? "Once we finished the game, there were footballers who said now what else is there to win as we've won everything in all categories. What remains in the next match in September. The team are relentless."
On Lamine Yamal: "I'd like to express my sincere gratitude for becoming a great footballer. He's really sacrificed for the collective good. In my opinion he played a great World Cup."
Do you want to lead the country into the home World Cup in 2030? "We are privileged to represent who we represent in our country. I believe that the real success lies in people with values and principles who make our lives easier. It's not difficult to find good people who want to work and do things in a generous way. I don't think I'm an alien. I come from the earth and I know we are not in a hurry. We want to complete each stage and now we want to enjoy this. I could tell you we're thinking a little bit about September but let's enjoy this. Let's take this one game at a time."
How were you able to bottle up Lionel Messi? "We had a game plan where the first idea was to keep Messi at bay but also other players away from our goal. Something very important was the attitude of our players. We were convinced it was our final and we wanted to go all out for this final. If it wasn't for their keeper we might've had a larger win."
Continue reading...
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY — Spain manager Luis de la Fuente was on cloud nine after leading La Roja to their second ever World Cup, denying Argentina the trophy with a 1-0 win at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
"I never thought of anything like this," De la Fuente said. "I always just wanted joy in moments. When you look back at this process, I would not have achieved anything without these players. The journey with this raw material, this talent. Spanish footballers, the way they compete. These players are amazing."
MORE — Rodri ever the maestro as Spain keep cool vs Argentina’s street fighters
De la Fuente heaped praise on his players and staff, and also had some banter for Marc Cucurella regarding the Real Madrid defender's much-publicized vow to get a tattoo of his coach's face if they won the World Cup.
"I’m no longer of an age to be getting tattoos," De la Fuente said, mentioning that other players had been looped into the vow. "I already told them they were wrong to say they’d get my face tattooed, because they’re men of their word and they’re going to follow through. I am not so ugly, though."
The great motivator had been praised for getting his team to buy into a collective that often asked the individuals to sacrifice some of their preferred playing methods on the pitch, and that includes teenager Lamine Yamal.
Yet it's easy to see why players want to follow the man after he lifted the lid on what he told them before the game.
“I said gentlemen we have an appointment with history, and we want to be there first,” De la Fuente said.
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Getty Images
Luis de la Fuente on Spain winning World Cup, limiting Messi, the play of Lamine Yamal, and more
Opening thoughts: "First of all I would like to thank the whole staff and everyone who worked with us," De la Fuente said. "The players are the true protagonists. Someone said after the semifinal happiness must feel like this but also we feel pride and satisfaction to great players and humans who will go down in history."
How are you feeling? "Well what are we feeling? Satisfaction, pride. It's such an honor to be the coach of these amazing players and have such an amazing staff with everyone at our training camp. Rodri, we've always said that he's the best player in the world. He has so much future ahead of him. I hope that when players go through tough times, we are more patient and we do not try to undermine the players journey because he can win the next Ballon d'Or as can so many of our players."
On what's next for Spain? "Once we finished the game, there were footballers who said now what else is there to win as we've won everything in all categories. What remains in the next match in September. The team are relentless."
On Lamine Yamal: "I'd like to express my sincere gratitude for becoming a great footballer. He's really sacrificed for the collective good. In my opinion he played a great World Cup."
Do you want to lead the country into the home World Cup in 2030? "We are privileged to represent who we represent in our country. I believe that the real success lies in people with values and principles who make our lives easier. It's not difficult to find good people who want to work and do things in a generous way. I don't think I'm an alien. I come from the earth and I know we are not in a hurry. We want to complete each stage and now we want to enjoy this. I could tell you we're thinking a little bit about September but let's enjoy this. Let's take this one game at a time."
How were you able to bottle up Lionel Messi? "We had a game plan where the first idea was to keep Messi at bay but also other players away from our goal. Something very important was the attitude of our players. We were convinced it was our final and we wanted to go all out for this final. If it wasn't for their keeper we might've had a larger win."
Continue reading...
