All the teams left at this World Cup share one trait: a clear, coherent idea.
International sides don’t have the time to build club-level complexity, so their principles must be simple and relentlessly reinforced.
That’s where Spain hold an edge. Their football identity has been honed over decades.
Players and coaches are chosen to fit the idea, not to redefine it. Because the foundations were long established, the style could evolve naturally.
Some would say that gives them an advantage over national teams embarking on a “new project” with a new manager.
De la Fuente has inherited that identity; to adapt a line Pep Guardiola once used about Johan Cruyff, he hasn’t built the cathedral—he just repaints it from time to time.
Spain’s coach has added layers: more versatility and depth, greater ease in transitions, extra unpredictability in the final third, and increased solidity.
They remain unmistakably Spain—still “the easiest team to analyse,” as a Portugal staff member told me after their last-16 defeat—yet “the hardest to beat.”
He knows these players well after a decade working with many of them at youth level.
That familiarity guides his decisions. His staff scrutinise every match and pinpoint the adjustments needed.
Against Cape Verde, Spain’s passing lacked finesse. Versus Saudi Arabia, the machine purred again.
Facing Uruguay, aware Spain have often faltered when dragged into provocation and chaos, he stressed calm, discipline and emotional control.
De la Fuente admits that earlier in his career he would have reacted more emotionally.
He says experience has taught him how to handle these occasions. He has lived through such games—and often lost them—because they didn’t know how to navigate certain types of contests.
When opponents shake you, knock you off your plan and break your focus, the rhythm gets chopped up and disrupted.
The lesson is clear: Spain tend to lose when they stray from their identity.
His press conferences mirror those values. He prepares with Aitor Karanka, the federation’s director of football, the media team and the FA psychologist, former player Javier Lopez Vallejo, but he improvises when needed.
He speaks from the heart and addresses journalists by name, something he learned at home—respect begins with recognising the person in front of you.
He looks people in the eye and treats them as equals, insisting these aren’t media tricks.