In a small town in the west of Holland, on the border with Germany, Spain is waiting for its chance to grow laurels. But the future of the national coach, Luis de la Fuente, could also be at stake in Enschede.
It is not lost on anyone that, despite being nothing more than a neophyte on the bench of the absolute, with just two games in his history, his figure is already crooked after the Scottish patacada. From the Federation they have tried to build a pineapple around De la Fuente, to convey all the confidence in the world to him, with Rubiales at the head of the mission, but doubts about the choice of Luis Enrique’s replacement exist and the Nations League s ‘has disguised himself as a juror.
The line between success and failure in sport is so thin that De la Fuente can go from being virtually doomed if he falls against Italy tonight to being one step away from winning Spain’s first title in more 11-year-olds in Sunday’s final. Expired the golden era of the red with the Euro 2012, precisely with an exhibition against Italy, the selection lives an era of lean cows that will seek to put an end to this week, in which just two games separate them from a title which he has never raised. “It’s a unique opportunity and things are going well, I see a lot of desire and a lot of unity in the dressing room”, a laughing Jordi Alba certified yesterday, once again called up and who will play the role of captain of the national team.
The first step to regain lost prestige must be taken against Italy, in the second semi-final of this Nations final four with a Dutch flavor. The match is already one of the great classics of continental football and will be played for the fortieth time. Like tonight, the last two meetings between the Mediterranean giants have been in the semi-finals. The Transalpines got away with it in the last European Championship, finally champions, and Spain, with two goals from Ferran Torres, came out victorious in the last Nations, although they would later fall with controversy in the final against France.
But avoiding drama, De la Fuente hinted in the preview that he is aware of what is at stake in this match. “I see it as if it were my last game, as I have always done. I don’t know what will happen but I know that our sporting life is going well and we will go all the way, I don’t think beyond that”, proclaimed the coach without losing his affable smile. After a somewhat hasty debut, with little time to work, De la Fuente has been able to bring his footballers together these days on the occasion of the Nations and, as he usually does, he takes a very positive reading of it. “I think that now we will be a little closer to what we want to convey”, he corroborated, showing off his muscles.
De la Fuente completely changed his starting line-up in his first two matches, opening up a huge range of possibilities heading into the semi-final against Italy. Starting with the goalkeeping debate, which did not want to close yesterday, with Kepa and Unai Simón as candidates. The other big doubt will be the presence or not of Rodri, the only footballer who played 180 minutes in March, in the eleven after arriving later for the celebration of the Champions League with City. “It is impossible that he has more motivation”, concluded the coach.
