Spain are the best in the world, says coach Luis de la Fuente
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Spain midfielder Rodri celebrates after beating Italy 1-0 in their Euro 2024 Group B clash, on June 20.
PHOTO: AFP
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GELSENKIRCHEN – Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has declared that his team are the best in the world, after they underlined their Euro 2024 title credentials by outclassing defending champions Italy in a 1-0 victory on June 20.
The narrow win would have been far greater but for heroics from Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and missed chances, as Italy coach Luciano Spalletti admitted.
Spalletti attributed the defeat to his players’ lack of freshness, but de la Fuente felt that did not give Spain enough credit.
“Football is not only about freshness and fitness levels, but also tactics and technique,” he insisted.
“I think we were superior across the board from a footballing perspective. Perhaps it seemed like Italy played badly, but that’s because we played very well.”
Spain’s performance inevitably prompted questions about whether they can win the title.
“I think we’re the best in the world... there is no team better than us and we just need to keep working and playing as we have been,” added de la Fuente, whose side benefited from a Riccardo Calafiori own goal in the 55th minute.
“I think it’s important to really underline the quality of this generation of players, the players who have actually broken into this squad. I think the Spanish players are the best in the world.”
Spain have advanced to the last 16, and are currently top of Group B. They are three points ahead of Italy with a positive four-goal difference heading into the last group game against Albania.
La Roja could easily have won by a much bigger margin, with nine shots on target from 20 compared to Italy’s one from only four shots over the 90 minutes – although they needed an own goal to win.
De la Fuente knows, however, that it is a long road to the Berlin final and trophies are not won with impressive performances in the group stage.
“We haven’t yet achieved anything,” he warned. “Football can also be very cruel. So we need to be cautious. We need to be humble. We need to show respect.”
Spalletti spoke of a tired Italy who could not cope with an energetic Spain side, and need to recover before their next game against Croatia.
“Maybe I needed to give them more rest. We were constantly stretched. We probably didn’t recover very well in terms of just how demanding and important the tournament was itself, because there was too much of a gulf in terms of sharpness and freshness,” he said.
“You can’t necessarily talk about anything else, overall, if you don’t have the same stamina as the opposition – obviously you can’t do things with the same reactivity, the same speed of reaction.”
Italy must now avoid defeat by Croatia to progress in the tournament, and may take inspiration from Spain.
“Everyone would love to copy Spain in terms of the way they play. They’ve been playing the best football for the longest time now. I need to try and succeed in making my players aware of how important this sort of match is. Because if you sit very deep against teams like this, ultimately it becomes very difficult,” Spalletti added. REUTERS, AFP
