“In the EURO we fought like Don Quixote, there were many windmills”

The Spanish soccer coach, Luis de la Fuente, commented this Thursday that the national team had to fight “like Don Quixote, against many windmills” during the European Championship in Germany last summer, and that the documentary ‘A team called Spain’ reflects the “values, suffering, work, effort, improvement” of the team during the tournament.

“The documentary reflects many of the things that we have wanted to leave behind and that this generation of footballers represents: values, suffering, work, effort, improvement and not giving up. We fought against mills like Don Quixote, but we did win, and there were many mills. I’ll leave it there…”, said De la Fuente during a colloquium organized by the RFEF after the viewing of the documentary ‘A team called Spain’, which will premiere this Friday on ‘Prime Video’.

The Riojan recalled that the players are “the true architects” of the victory at EURO 2024. “We are there as companions. We are going to continue working with them, but they are the true architects because they are the best in the world, I have no doubt “he stressed.

The coach confessed that it is “very nice to be able to remember” those moments that reflect “many of the things” they experienced during the tournament. “At that moment it was a tremendous emotional burden, an immense joy, as we have repeated time and time again. On top of that, we were lucky to experience them with our family, because we all became a family after those 45 days,” he added.

“Remembering it gives you goosebumps again, because they were very exciting moments, very intense and of great joy. But the greatest joy is being able to see the people of an entire country happy, identified with some wonderful players and with an idea football that caught on and made Spain throw its weight behind its national team,” said the Haro coach.

De la Fuente made it clear that they are going to try to “continue maintaining” that “identification and union” with the fans because it is “wonderful.” “We are part of a ‘little piece’ of the history of Spanish football, but we have to keep walking. We always say, at the end of each training session, this can be improved,” he said.

The coach pointed out that an athlete “never stops working and preparing” to continue being “in a position to fight for something important.” “This generation of footballers are insatiable in sports. Victory invites you to continue fighting to achieve other challenges and achieve other objectives,” he explained.

Finally, the European champion coach said that leadership “is not imposed.” “Leadership attracts, it draws your attention and you generate that bond. What I intend is to be another teammate, someone who is there to help them and provide them with everything they may need to develop their full potential. The relationship with the player has to be be credible and trustworthy, and thus, one is capable of giving the best one has,” he concluded.