Image via RFEF. Mr. de la Fuente speaks to the press.
Spain were rested on Thursday with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Austria in the round of 32, leaving many doubts over their qualification as World Cup favorites. La Roja crushed Ralf Rangnick’s side with relative ease, but coach Luis de la Fuente was keen for Spain to continue improving.
Unai Simon kept a clean sheet for the fourth time in this tournament, setting a record of 520 consecutive clean sheets. He surpassed Italy’s Walter Zenga in the 1990 tournament.
“There are many reasons to be happy today. The win is very important. It was a sensational win. I am especially happy for Unai. I have known him since childhood, so his record is a reward. We are doing well and moving in the right direction, but we have to be better,” he told Diario AS.
De la Fuente eager to continue growing
After the match, Rangnick told the media that his team did not make a single mistake, suggesting that they may have been eliminated by the team that ultimately won the tournament. Mr. de la Fuente hinted that more was to come.
“Our mindset is to continue to improve, with the view that this team has not reached its limits yet. We are ambitious and insatiable in terms of sport.”
“Every game is different. They were all very difficult games. If we hadn’t played well, Austria would have caused us problems. But I’m also happy against Uruguay, because that’s the game that got us here. I’m very lucky to be able to manage such great players. Their potential for development is endless.”
More specifically, he pointed out that despite not allowing a goal for the fourth time in this tournament, there is room for improvement in their defense.
“We need to improve defensively. At least until the first break, we had to fine-tune our high press a little bit more. We made some adjustments, but the goal is to keep improving. We can be more efficient, and the next opponent will be tougher, so we’ll have to redouble our efforts.”
“Rodrigo is having a great World Cup”
One player who has been criticized in recent games is Rodri Hernández, who has played all his games for La Roja.
“For me, Rodrigo is having an extraordinary World Cup. He pressed, ran into the box and took shots. And Pedri showed another masterclass. I’m happy with the style of play. In fact, we need everyone. That’s the mindset to go far. But we have to keep improving as part of the process of moving forward with complete calm.”
De la Fuente currently appears to be comfortable with starting Dani Olmo in midfield over Pedri and Rodri. Lamine Yamal and Alex Baena were left out wide, with Mikel Merino and Fabian Ruiz missing from the starting XI.
