Luis de la Fuente: “We have seen the team perform, I am very satisfied”

The national men’s soccer coach, Luis de la Fuente, was “very satisfied” for having seen his team “perform” and for having been “very balanced” in all phases during Monday’s victory in the friendly against Peru, the last before facing the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

“The truth is that we are very happy and I am very satisfied because we have seen the team perform and are already approaching the best moments of these players who had not participated much in the last games with their clubs,” De la Fuente warned at the ‘TVE’ microphone after the victory in Puebla (Mexico).

The Riojan coach celebrated that “the preparation of these previous days” and “the minutes” that they have been given in these last games “have served them to loosen up, to gain more confidence, to offer that guarantee of football.” “And those who have more specific weight within the team, I think they have been very successful,” he added.

“I think that in the offensive and defensive phases we have been very balanced and only in the goal we have had that small imbalance in the tilt that has allowed the rival to arrive alone. But in general I think we have been quite successful,” added the one from Haro.

He praised the figure of Ferran Torres, positioned as a winger in this friendly. “I believe that Spain has gained a great center forward, but perhaps we are not enjoying an exceptional winger. As we know the conditions he has and what he can offer us as a winger, we are also very calm enjoying those moments from Ferran,” he said.

Later, at a press conference, De la Fuente was asked about the goal once again and, after Unai Simón and David Raya participated against Peru, he insisted that “any” of the three chosen “deserves this recognition” of being able to play in the World Cup. “This is not a gift, it is the opportunity to demonstrate internationally his category, his quality. Today I think it was fair to also give the option to David, but I am clear about who is going to be the goalkeeper who is going to start the World Cup if there are no setbacks during these days,” he stressed.

Another who received praise was Dani Olmo, who shone as an interior player where the coach sees him as “one of the best players in the world.” “But, I reiterate over and over again, in those interior positions we may have the six best players in the world and we are lucky,” he stressed.

“Dani Olmo is in a fantastic moment of confidence with us and, in addition, we have the possibility of using him on the wing, so we will surely find his place and that he will give us a lot, as he gave us in the last Euro Cup. I am sure that this World Cup will also have a starring role,” added the Catalan.

Finally, he once again repeated a message of calm about the ‘Red”s role as favorite in the World Cup. “The assessment of these specialists is a recognition of a task, a job done, a merit that these players have earned, that is why it is the recognition, but being recognized as a candidate, as a possible favorite, does not guarantee anything, knowing also that there are other teams as strong as ours,” he warned.

“This is a team in which we have a lot of confidence in our possibilities and in our way of playing, we are convinced that this idea is going very well for us, but at the same time we are humble enough to understand that there are many teams, a very powerful group, with the same capabilities that we have. We only have to work and fight until the end, so we are going to do it, with the same desire, from the first day to the last that we are here,” he stated.