Luis de la Fuente entered the press room of the Las Rozas Football City smiling, as always, and still undefeated, as is customary. The coach has gone 44 games without losing. 44 games that could be cut short on Sunday against England. Or not. The only thing that would change if Spain ended up losing to the English would be that they would qualify as second in the group and not first. Well, and the undefeated one, who surely weighs more than the first.
And Luis de la Fuente, as always, emphasizes that he wants to continue winning. "Until today, we are the team in history with the most unbeaten games. But we are not staying here. This team has a lot of ambition and we have an obsession: the game in front of us is the last game," said the coach.
And for that match the coach is talking about, Mikel Oyarzabal and Lamine Yamal are already ready, who also trained without any problem along with the rest. Barça's, as always, has been the name of the week due to the coach's 'anger' before the Czech Republic match, when asked about him. Although, well, today he denied that tantrum. "I'm not angry, really. I just said that it bothers me when the truth is not told. Surely, it does all of us here. We don't like lies. Nothing more." And he added: "That said, Lamine is fantastic. We would do the process again. He has recovered perfectly."
"We'll see if he starts"
And perhaps that "perfectly" has ensured that he can start the national team and Barça star against England. More or less, he let it slip that this would be the case, laughing. "We'll see if he starts. But if he starts, it's because he's in perfect condition," confessed the man from Haro.
And from laughter, the coach turned to faces of, one could say, disbelief at Thomas Tuchel's statement about the racism problems that exist in Spain. "The anti-racism protocol is in force and it is important that the players know it. And we will respond if something like this happens. The best responses are given on the pitch," commented the former Chelsea coach.
Direct and clear, without detours, De la Fuente flatly denied that racism could exist in our country: "Tell Tuchel that there is no racism in Spain. Exactly the same as in England. We are not racists."
And they, the English, England, await Spain tomorrow. Probably the two best teams in the world right now. Football says it, every game of either of the two teams, and Luis, as usual, as he is, prefers to bet on his own, on his own: "We are two of the teams with the greatest potential in the world. I stick with the Spanish model. I think it is a very recognizable model, very identified with our footballers. I stick with this one. The English model has evolved a lot and it also seems very good to me. But we couldn't play like England nor could England play like Spain."
Baena's personality
Like that England that, well, is not world champion, but has the Ballon d'Or: Harry Kane. And Álex Baena spoke about it after the coach's intervention. "England is, along with Spain, the best team. They have a great coach, great players and the Ballon d'Or. I would have loved for Lamine or some Spaniard to win it, but it was deserved," confessed the one from Roquetas de Mar.
Álex, who, unlike the coach, came in seriously. He came and went, just like he is. And that seriousness, that way of being, his personality, arouses interest. "People think about me and, off the field, I am very different. I am very family-oriented, very introverted and embarrassing. I like to enjoy myself with my people. I think that if people knew me off the field, they would be very surprised. But I can't change it and I stick with what the people close to me think," the player himself explained.
We will see if tomorrow, the coach trusts him again, but everything indicates that Baena, due to meritocracy, has his position almost assured. Now all that remains is to know if, what is also assured, are the 45 undefeated games.
