Luis De la Fuente, a Riojan from Athletic in command of Spain

For several decades, Athletic had in Lezama a treasure of few words, feline gaze and accurate aim.

His name was Piru Gainza, and it was he who received the tip that, perhaps, he should travel to Haro, in La Rioja, to closely observe a 15-year-old boy, the son of an Athletic member, who did wonders for the left side.

Gainza arrived, saw and ruled that Luis De la Fuente (Haro, 61 years old) was ready to test in Lezama.

A large part of his family lived in Bilbao, and he himself, with his father, regularly went to San Mamés and kept the signed photos of the players in his house, including that of Javier Clemente.

At the Bilbao factory, De la Fuente grew and formed part of the last legendary team that is remembered in Bilbao.

It was in 1982/83.

He alternated with Núñez on the left side.

That Athletic won two consecutive leagues and the Copa de Rey against the Barcelona of Maradona and Schuster.

De la Fuente was a winger with a long run, an interesting dribble and a good pass.

For seven seasons he occupied the band.

Later he went to Sevilla, where he started two of his three courses.

He left a good memory and returned to Athletic in a late return operation.

In 1993/94 he played his last games as a professional at Alavés.

De la Fuente closed that book and opened the next one, as a coach.

After Lezama, the Sevilla and Alavés youth academy, he found a place in the Federation, again as a training coach.

He took charge of the sub-19, with which he won the European.

In that team they formed, among others, Simón, Vallejo, Merino, Ceballos, Rodri, Asensio, Mayoral or Carlos Fernández.

Three of them have played this World Cup.

He also led the under-18s to Spain's victory at the 2018 Mediterranean Games in June.

A month later he took over from Albert Celades in the under-21s, and the following year he added success in the Euro Cup to his record after defeating Germany.

With Oyarzabal, Simón, Vallejo, Olmo, Merino, Zubeldia or Junior Firpo.

His latest achievement, the silver medal at the Tokyo Games.

Now he is chosen for the absolute.

It will be the second time that he has replaced Luis Enrique, whom he already replaced on June 8 of last year, in the 4-0 match between Spain and Lithuania in which the Asturian coach was low due to covid.

More information

Luis Enrique ceases to be Spain coach and Luis de la Fuente will be his replacement

According to Andoni Goikoetxea, his teammate at Athletic, “that they have chosen him is a huge joy for me.

He is tremendously capable.

He is a serious man, who knows a lot about this.

He is going to have a very difficult job ahead of him”.

And he adds: "They will look at it with a magnifying glass."

His ideology?

“What I try to do with everyone is instill a responsibility and a demand.

A mentality that makes it clear to the players that with effort, everything is achieved, ”he says.

Although he has never directed in the First Division, Luis De la Fuente has the advantage of knowing all those eligible very closely, due to his time in all the lower categories.

"He is a very good person," says Clemente, former Spain coach and De la Fuente's coach at Athletic.

"He knows the youngsters well and has also had very good results in all the lower teams," concludes Clemente.

A more flexible selection is expected of him.

"The systems that I like the most are 1-4-4-2 and 1-4-2-3-1, but the main thing is to have players who adapt to that way of developing the system that you want," he said. him in an interview.

What will go down, of course, is the tension in the press rooms.

De la Fuente avoids tension, he is always polite, he responds extensively to football questions and knows, as a field manager who was at Athletic, that containment is a value in the world of football.

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