De la Fuente: “We intend to arrive in perfect conditions on the 15th”

The national soccer coach, Luis de la Fuente, explained that the objective of this Thursday against Iraq, a friendly that ended in a draw (1-1) in Riazor, was to regain a competitive rhythm, meeting “deadlines” to “arrive in perfect conditions on June 15”, debut in the 2026 World Cup against Cape Verde.

“They all deserved it. We are always a little bit guarding, they have all made their debut, they have helped us a lot, they are players with a great future, we will see many of them in the senior team. One more objective has been achieved. Today we intended to do a more conditional, more physical job, for the players to adapt to the competition. It was a day of sensations. There were no injuries,” he said at a press conference.

De la Fuente thus explained the opportunity he gave to the nine support players this week, eight debutants with the senior team in Riazor, and pointed to a new phase starting this Friday, when they already travel to the United States and with the friendly against Peru. “Tomorrow we enter another phase. The next game will be different, other players, demands, rhythm, intensity. We are in the United States and it makes us clear where we have to look,” he commented.

“It was an important match, we don’t understand a friendly match. We were looking for some objectives. First, to win, but then a series of conditions for each player and fundamentally on a physical level. The idea I have remains the same. There are 11 days left for our debut and there is still another one on the 8th. There is a lot of preparation left, but we are clear about which team is going to start,” he added.

On the other hand, the ‘Red’ coach recalled that it is normal to see strange results these days. “We are all in that phase, we are in the phase of the players acclimatizing, adapting to the new reality, after a few days stopped, gaining rhythm in a scenario that has nothing to do with club rivalry,” he said.

“This is much harder, more demanding. It is normal that the players have had a slight downturn, all the teams have planned for this. We intend to arrive in perfect condition on the 15th and for the moment we are meeting our objectives,” said the Rioja coach.

Furthermore, De la Fuente, who congratulated the Riazor workers for having the field in perfect condition after the celebration of Deportivo’s promotion, saw the return of Mikel Merino as “very good news.” “It is one of the good news, very good, because it has shown us that it is in good condition, that it will grow with the workload,” he commented.

On the other hand, the national coach praised an Iraq that will have a tough group in the World Cup against France, Norway and Senegal. “They have offered to be a team with a lot of intensity, rhythm, associative play, they seemed to me to be a very interesting team. They have given us a lot of problems. We have had problems preventing their progression. I have seen a dynamic team, with good players,” he concluded.