By Fernando Kallas
BERLIN, July 13 (Reuters) – The best advice Spain‘s manager Luis de la Fuente can give his players as they prepare to face England in the Euro 2024 final is to stay true to their identity of playing entertaining football, he said on Saturday.
Imperious Spain have taken the tournament by storm with six straight wins, including a comeback against mean-defending France in their semi-final despite missing several key starters.
They did it without sacrificing their attacking style, a mentality and confidence that De la Fuente believes they must stay loyal to for Sunday’s clash.
“If we are not Spain, we have no chance,” De la Fuente told a press conference on Saturday.
“We worked hard to be better … We will try to impose ourselves on Sunday by being us.
“There are styles, ways of playing. We will also have a rival in front of us but our tendency is obvious. Tomorrow we will of course try to play to our strengths. But if we can’t do it, it will be due to special circumstances of a game, it won’t mean that the trend has changed.”
SPANISH SWAGGER
So far in Germany, Spain have delivered a series of performances full of skill and swagger showing how they have reimagined themselves into a team who know the way to goal.
A remarkable 108 shots on goal, 37 on target, are proof of how De la Fuente has developed his side into one that no longer seems to seek possession for possession’s sake.
Those are the best numbers of the tournament and almost double England’s 66 total attempts and 19 on target.
The final is expected to be a contrast of styles, but De la Fuente does not believe Spain should be seen as favourites.
“We are calm. We have never lost perspective. We focus on what we control. We know that tomorrow there is no favourite, it is very evenly balanced. We’ll leave the favourites talk to the bookmakers,” De la Fuente said.
“We know that if we are not at the level we have shown so far, we won’t have a chance of winning. But I know that we have it and that we’re going to give it on Sunday.
“I am proud to see the process we have followed to get here. Nobody has given this team anything for free and we have the right to feel very proud. There is a present and a great future. To see a country committed to this national team is a wonderful thing.” (Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)