MADRID, 11 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach Luis de la Fuente will be presented this Monday (12:30 pm) in the Luis Aragonés Hall of the Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas (Madrid) as the new Spanish soccer coach, after taking over from Luis Enrique Martínez.
Until now the Spanish Under-21 coach will take over from the Asturian, who will not continue in charge of ‘la Roja’ after the team’s elimination in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar against Morocco. Prior to his presentation, the Board of Directors of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) must ratify his appointment.
Luis de la Fuente was proclaimed champion of Europe Under-19 in 2015. In 2018, he was a gold medalist at the Mediterranean Games with the Under-18 team, the same year in which he was named U-21 coach, the team with which he proclaimed champion of Europe in 2019 after beating Germany in the final (2-1). In addition, he is an Olympic silver medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Thus, the RFEF is committed to a ‘house’ coach to give continuity to the project started by Luis Enrique, although without experience or fame as a club coach. His endorsement for this new stage will be a versatile style similar to the one proposed by the man from Gijón and his knowledge of Spanish grassroots football. And it is that De la Fuente already knows the hard core of the generation called to lead the absolute in the coming years, due to his experience in the Tokyo Games.
Anecdotally, De la Fuente has already led the senior team on one occasion, in June 2021 against Lithuania in Butarque in the last preparation game for EURO 2020, since the RFEF decided that the players of the Sub- 21, with Luis Enrique’s squad confined by COVID protocol. The new coach will make his debut in March in Germany’s Euro 2024 qualifying phase and will direct their first two matches against Norway and Scotland.