Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente discussed Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé and the development of Spanish football in an interview with the Spanish news agency EFE.
The 65-year-old also spoke about collecting the world’s best coach award at the Ballon d’Or ceremony on 26 October and Spain’s run of 42 consecutive matches without defeat.
Messi and Ronaldo as examples
De la Fuente said: “I am one of their biggest admirers, especially of the values and principles they have brought to the world of sport and to society in general.”
He added: “They have been an example to follow in football.”
As highlighted by Mundo Deportivo, he said: “Two players who achieved everything, yet they kept wanting to win, one at the age of 39 and the other at the age of 41. They have been a model of performance, behaviour and sportsmanship.”
Asked whether he would call the end of Ronaldo’s international career a bitter farewell, given the tension with Jorge Jesus and the forward’s departure from the national team camp during the previous international break, De la Fuente answered: “No, not at all.”
Mbappé and Yamal’s future
Speaking about Mbappé and Yamal, De la Fuente said: “They will create an era in football.” He added: “I am sure of that.”
He said: “It is very good for football that there is not just one star who is the point of reference for everyone.”
De la Fuente added: “There should be two or three players who are a source of inspiration, who create an atmosphere of enjoyment and following, and who embody the essence of sport, which is competition, something that must always remain healthy.”
On Yamal, he said: “He is a young man who is very mature for his age, but he needs us to support him, like any young man of his age who is still in the formative stage.”
He added: “He is aware of that, because in private settings he shows you the maturity I am talking about, but he also needs to protect and defend himself away from those settings, in the face of everything around him.”
De la Fuente said: “I admire him, because a young man of nineteen who bears the media pressure he has faced since he was sixteen, that is not easy at all. It is very difficult, but he handles it with remarkable naturalness.”
His advice was: “What we must tell him is to keep growing, developing and working the way he is performing now. In this way, all the doors will remain open for him to become a legendary footballer.”
The world’s best coach award
De la Fuente renewed his contract until 2032 at the end of September. His first match since being crowned the world’s best coach comes against the Czech Republic in Prague on Thursday.
On the award, he said: “I am happy, but I am not someone who has many dreams, and I do not consider myself a dreamer.”
He added: “I am a man who sets goals and moves towards them step by step. I do not feel that the award is a burden on me, because I am always working to get closer to achieving more development.”
De la Fuente said: “As much as it has made me happy, what makes me happier, believe me, is that it is not an individual honour but a collective one.”
Spain’s unbeaten run and football system
Spain have gone 42 consecutive matches without defeat since March 2024. De la Fuente said: “Our goal is to keep developing from one match to the next, as we are a very ambitious team.”
He added: “In football, as soon as you relax even a little, your opponent punishes you with a win. And this applies even more at national team level.”
De la Fuente said: “Many do not realise the scale of the competition that exists. At club level, there may be big gaps between the best teams of some countries and others, but these gaps shrink considerably at national team level.”
He said: “I think others feel envy, and more importantly curiosity to know what Spain has been doing for many years to reach this distinguished level, whether at club or national team level, as well as at the individual level.”
On the secret of Spanish football’s success, he said: “I simply advise them to invest in formation and coaching, that is the secret.”
