De la Who!? To be honest, that was the reaction of the majority of us back in December 2022 when Luis de la Fuente succeeded the much-famous Luis Enrique in Spain’s dugout following the FIFA World Cup.He was 61 at the time, and almost no one outside Spain didn’t know a thing about this bald tactician. And you can’t blame us, really, since his coaching career until that moment has been as low-key as it gets.Luis de la Fuente becomes the first manager to win the Under-19 Euros, Under-21 Euros, Nations League and European Championship. 🇪🇸🏆 pic.twitter.com/mlgxjarJ4W— The Coaches’ Voice (@CoachesVoice) July 14, 2024 The highest achievements in the first 15 years of his managerial career were the youth setups of Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao. Thanks to his patience and serious work with them, he was finally given a chance on the big stage with occasional La Liga side Deportivo Alaves to become their first-team coach in July 2011. It lasted only three months before De la Fuente was sacked due to a string of poor results.For another two years, he kept a low profile before being given a chance that would prove to be crucial for both him and Spain.On 5 May 2013, he was appointed the boss of the Spain U19 team, and just two years later they won the 2015 UEFA European Championship. He was promoted to the U21 team in July 2018, with whom he won another European crown in the 2019 European Championship.It looks like the De La Fuente gamble is paying offTwo players from that winning side were Mikel Merino and Mikel Oyarzabal, the heroes of this year’s Spain triumph in the Euro 2024. The insane connection between Spain’s Euros 2024 heroes Merino and OyarzabalIn the meantime, he led the Spanish Olympic team at the delayed 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Spain won the silver medal, losing 2-1 to Brazil in the final.The next, natural step for De la Fuente and the Red Fury was the UEFA Nations League, which they won defeating Croatia 5-4 on penalties in the 2022–23 edition of that recently-established competition.As you see, Spain and De la Fuente have made it a long way together, going patiently step by step through the system that carefully plans and builds on the basis of impeccable work with the talents.”I come from a grassroots background. Our commitment to the people we trust in the youth system. It’s not a pose, it is a conviction,” explained De la Fuente recently.##NAJAVA_MECA_8209450##And proved that he really sticks to that old ‘practice what you preach’.Ex-Spain boss Vicente Del Bosque once said that if you watch Spain, you don’t see Busquets, but that if you take a closer look at Busquets, you see the entire gameplan.We can say that it’s pretty much the same with De la Fuente and their system.If you watch Spain’s triump in the European Championship, you maybe don’t see De la Fuente. But if you watch him and that steady, patient rise of his, you see the whole foundation of Spain’s current success.
