Luis de la Fuente firmly defended his blind trust in the young Lamine Yamal, 16, whom he has called up again for the Spanish team, for the qualification matches for Euro 2024 against Scotland and Norway.
The coach referred to the Blaugrana winger, whom he made his debut against Georgia on September 8, as an exceptional case comparable to Messi or Maradona, due to his precocity in the elite.
"Do you remember when Messi was 16 years old, or Maradona? To question that they should not have played when they were 16 or 17 years old would seem sacrilege to us now. Football has these things. These footballers who have that special, so different touch, that they are so good, we must not put limits on them, we must let them develop their full potential and be able to demonstrate their category. This is what we try to do, in their club first, and we here too," commented De la Fuente, questioned by the suitability or not of dosing Lamine Yamal's entry into the national team due to his little experience and tender age.
"We always make sure that the process is as reasonable as possible, but there are footballers who 'knock down the door' before others, they have fantastic potential, they have exceptional conditions, but their performance is going to be the one that is going to demand what we can of them." give. Of course you have to take care of him," he defended his performance with the 16-year-old boy, just like Xavi Hernández does at Barça, giving him confidence.
De la Fuente referred in the press conference in Las Rozas, after the publication of the squad list, to the importance of the two games against Scotland (October 12) and Norway (on the 15th).
"We can leave qualification for the Euro Cup mathematically in these two games. They are very important. In Scotland [where Spain lost in March, 2-0] we saw things that were positive, we were not at the competitive level we are now, we learned the lesson "But our team is not the one from March, we are a little better, and I hope that next month will be better."
“The pre-list of 49 players does not exclude those who are not on it; Next time I'm going to make a short list of the 300 Spanish players there are and we avoid problems (by leaving people out). There are many very good Spanish footballers and I am not going to talk about the one who is not here. Unfortunately one has to be left out. I am lucky to be able to choose between four or five per position. I have to make the decision myself. "There is great competition, and all players have their doors open to the national team."
“I have spoken with Pedri, as with other injured people, because they have a hard time and need closeness. My relationship goes beyond coach to player. Pedri has the fit to play in any position that he has potential in attack and in any team in the world, due to his category. We are lucky to have a player like him in Spain," he praised the Barça Canarian midfielder.
Asked if the latest troubles and controversies over the Rubiales case or Vinícius' statements about racist insults have affected Spain's candidacy for the 2030 World Cup, De la Fuente got into a bit of trouble over a lapse.
"I think not. What we have to do is continue working so that the venues are decided in December 2024. We have to unite and think only about football, because we are playing a lot. And speaking of racism, I am the first to condemn and denounce "any act of violence and racism. I said it a long time ago: Spain is not sexist, it is not fascist... oh, sorry, none of those things. But it is certainly not racist, let it be clear."
