The world is full of guides for managers, and these are full of advice on how important empathy can be. It is quite possible that Spain’s national coach Luis de la Fuente has also consumed such works. More importantly, however, he lives them.
Anyone who has followed De la Fuente’s work for a long time can tell of an incident on the sidelines of the 2019 U21 European Championship in Italy, when he told a player who was then considered Spain’s most promising defender that he would not play: Jorge Meré, who was then playing for 1. FC Köln and most recently for FC Cádiz.
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Meré, now 27, wandered dejectedly and alone through the lobby of the hotel in Udine, Italy, where Spain’s U21 team was staying – followed by De la Fuente at every step. The coach of the “Rojita”, the little reds, did not want to reverse his decision, but at least wanted to reduce Meré’s suffering – and thus his own.
Because he suffers before every game, including the match against Italy in the European Championship preliminary round group B in Gelsenkirchen on Thursday. He looks at every game “as if it were my last”, because only when you believe that you are “faced with the last chance of your life” do you tackle tasks “with maximum energy”, De la Fuente once said in an interview with the newspaper The countryIt was published shortly after his appointment as national coach, which took place after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. His predecessor Luis Enrique had ruined that tournament; a thousand passes had not led to a single goal in the round of 16 against Morocco and ultimately to elimination in the penalty shootout.
For De la Fuente, it was the crowning achievement of a career as a youth coach spanning more than ten years, which, after a series of stints in lower-class Spanish football, made him European champion with the U19 and U21 teams, as well as silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics. And coincidence or not: De la Fuente has actually faced what was supposed to be his last chance a few times in his new position. For example, when he lost the European Championship qualifier against Scotland in March 2023 (0-2). Or after he publicly applauded the famous defense speech by former association president Luis Rubiales (“I’m not resigning!”).
His only known strength is his penchant for lifting weights in the gym
Rubiales had to leave shortly afterwards. Even when De la Fuente had become more established in his position, he must have rolled his eyes. When his contract was extended until the 2026 World Cup, the question arose as to whether the contract was valid – the interim presidency had exceeded its authority, it was said, because such a far-reaching decision is the responsibility of a properly elected presidency. For the time being, in any case, it will not be shaken. On Saturday, the Spanish team impressed with a 3-0 win against Croatia.
The fact that there have been doubts about De la Fuente in the past is probably also due to a lack of lobby. He is not one of the most eloquent representatives of his profession; he does not claim to revolutionize the Spanish game. However, as was seen against Croatia, he has introduced a more straightforward approach to the game. Possession of the ball as an end in itself is no longer relevant. His teaching as a coach has nothing to do with the onomatopoeic style defined as “patapúm parriba”, which is generally associated with De la Fuente’s greatest successes as a player. “Patapúm parriba” stands for the kick & rush that was cultivated by Javier Clemente at Athletic Bilbao.
Under Clemente, De la Fuente not only became known as a very passable left-back, but also twice won the Spanish championship, in 1983 and 1984. In the dressing room, they called him “Tarantini” because he had curly hair like the Argentinian defender who won the World Cup in 1978. Unlike the real Tarantini, however, De la Fuente also had a moustache that would have made him a passable extra in a spaghetti western. When Athletic won the double in the summer of 1984, De la Fuente was there too. It is particularly memorable because it ended in a brawl that was not suitable for young players, including kung fu kicks from Barcelona’s Diego Maradona. It is said that De la Fuente looked after an unconscious teammate named Sole.
That would fit the image that one must have of De la Fuente today. The only known muscle-flexing of his time is his penchant for lifting weights in the gym. He is considered reserved, obliging and honest, so that the former editor-in-chief of the newspaper As once compared with the torero El Viti: El Viti was considered so righteous that he was said to order the bulls not into the arena, but into court.
De la Fuente himself is considered a great fan of bullfighting; he loved going to the arena in Seville in particular. He also played in the Andalusian capital for a few years – and there too he gave evidence of his empathy: he, who was born in La Rioja in the far north of Spain, was dancing “Sevillanas” after two weeks, the Andalusian dances accompanied by castanets – which is a bit like an East Frisian dancing Schuhplattler after two weeks in Bavaria.