MADRID, 21 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The U-21 national soccer coach, Luis de la Fuente, again broke a spear in favor of young Spanish soccer players and made it clear that “they never fail” if the clubs decide to bet on them because “they are ‘top’ and have a tremendous quality”, and that in his case age “is not inconvenient” when making a list, although he is lucky that he has a lot to choose from.
“If you bet on them (young players) they never fail because they are very good, they have a lot of quality and they are ‘top’ players,” De la Fuente said at a press conference on Monday. “In that bag of players that we manage, they have everything to potentially be First Division players, but football has many details that sometimes they are not able to control and be at that level that is expected at the highest level,” he added.
The one from Haro responded like this when asked about the level of U-21s like Bryan Gil or Rodrigo Riquelme, youngsters for whom he “always” demanded “opportunities”. “Bryan has now found confidence and continuity in Valencia and they trust him there and he has entered with fantastic mental strength. I think he has not yet reached the ceiling and that is the best news, that he is ready to do so,” he said of the winger. Cadiz.
Of the Atlético de Madrid youth squad, shining in the Mirandés of LaLiga SmartBank, he pointed out that “he has the raw material to be in the highest demand” and how the Valencian player is “an example” of the level he can offer. “If they are given the opportunity, they don’t fail because they have tremendous quality. As soon as they bet on him, he has shown everything he has and I think he has the potential to be an important player,” he admitted.
He also spoke about the midfielder Antonio Blanco, who plays for the Real Madrid subsidiary in the First RFEF, and whom he has called for the loss of Oihan Sancet because “he has been working for a long time” with the national team, in which he has been since he had “15 years”.
“He has the advantage that he knows me and also our entire line of work. Given the time pressure to face the match against Lithuania, we needed someone who knew what we were going to ask of him and, eye, a very good player. We know that we failed, he is always up to what is asked of him,” he explained.
De la Fuente also stressed that both the athletic academy player Pablo Barrios and the racinguist Pablo Torre, 18 years old and summoned by the U-19, “are on the verge of making the leap”, but that for now he prefers to continue “pulling” U-21 players who are “competing at a very high level.
In any case, the coach clarified that “age is not an inconvenience” because they give “an opportunity for talent, ability and desire”. “If it is estimated that they are superior to others older in age, it will not be a limitation for them,” he said.
On the other hand, he respects the decision of the blaugrana Ez Abde to finally play with Morocco. “Those who want and can, but who want to be, will be here. This will open the door to another who wants to be, almost everyone wants to be here,” he explained.
“THESE MATCHES ARE KEY”
On casualties, he acknowledged that they are things that “always cause disorders” and “generate inconveniences”, but he preferred to “think positive”. “We are lucky to have great, very good youth players and when there is a case of these circumstances, the door is opened for another to make his debut and claim the quality he has and that he can show all the potential he has in this high demand”, warned.
The man from La Rioja believes that they must “continue to insist” on what they are “strong” and that he already knows the novelties on his list “very well” and knows that they are “perfectly prepared to respond to the demand” that they are going to ask for. “I want to see them with us and that when the ball rolls they can give their chest,” he said.
“These games against Lithuania and Slovakia are key and I have conveyed this to the players, winning these six points would be mathematically classified and the players must be aware that we are playing a lot”
In this sense, and after starting his press conference requesting the end of the war in Ukraine, he assured that he would be “delighted” that Russia, his main rival in the group so far, could be “competing” and not sanctioned by UEFA by a “dramatic conflict”. “In any of the circumstances we want to win all the group matches and our approach remains the same, we don’t want to make any other cabal,” he stressed.