SportTurn for Luis de la Fuente: man of faith...

Turn for Luis de la Fuente: man of faith and 'discoverer' of Sergio Ramos | Euro 2021

When asked what Luis de la Fuente is like within the Federation, the first qualifier that he repeats the most is that of “a good person” . Then it is added: “He is a great coach”, “a soccer man”, “a humble coach” … But the first thing is usually to highlight the great background of a coach who will live in the Municipal Stadium of Butarque his first game as Spain’s absolute coach. It may or may not be the last, but circumstances have wanted life to put a unique opportunity before him. And as he says: “opportunities are not missed.”

Luis de la Fuente will reap the fruits after many years of work. A football man who was trained in Lezama, won two leagues as a player with Athletic, went through Sevilla and hung up his boots at Alavés. As a coach, he also began his career in the Bilbao team’s subsidiary, he continued training in the Sevilla quarry, then he sat on the bench of the Vitorian team, to end up joining the RFEF in 2013. In Las Rozas he has been in charge of the Spanish U18, U19, U21 and Olympic team. Now, he can also say that for 90 minutes he has been a coach of the absolute.

In these years on the benches he has won a European Under-19 and Under-21. His next goal will be to repeat in Tokyo the gold medal that Spain already won at the Barcelona 92 Olympic Games. The challenge is not easy, but the Rioja will do everything he can to get as far as possible in the Olympic event in Japan. A born worker, who as soon as he received the call from the RFEF put himself at the service of the body chaired by Luis Rubiales, began to work on drawing up an emergency list that was not easy due to the circumstances and contacted Luis Enrique to ask him all the reports he had from Lithuania , which he knows perfectly well for hours. And the objective is clear: “We are going to win.”

Of yours and very believing

In these times of constant criticism, it is difficult to find consensus when it comes to recognizing that a person is pleasant , and with Luis de la Fuente it happens. His players appreciate him, in the Federation he is highly regarded and his treatment with fans and the media is exquisite. Always friendly. Always with a smile and a good word.

Another thing that Luis de la Fuente can boast about is being one of the ‘discoverers’ of Sergio Ramos . Both coincided in the quarry of Sevilla when the coach was training the youth of the Seville team. In fact, the captain of Real Madrid was a cadet, but his quality and projection encouraged him to play with the elders under the confidence of the coach.

Luis de la Fuente is also a man of faith . A believer who is happy in his town surrounded by his own. It is common to see phrases with a religious message in your WhatsApp image. The RFEF call caught him in Haro hours after landing from Slovenia. The coach wanted to spend a few days before the Olympic Games with the hope of spending La Rioja Day on June 9 in his hometown. After the game he will head home again, with the idea of making the most of the holiday as possible. 

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