Luis de la Fuente explained what is fuelling Spain to achieve greatness after they came back to beat England 3-2 at Wembley Stadium in their first fixture of the new Nations League campaign.
La Roja have won the 2023 Nations League final, 2024 European Championships final and 2026 World Cup final, while taking Portugal to penalties in their 2025 Nations League final defeat.
A record 39 games unbeaten
On the way, the Spaniards have remained unbeaten across 39 consecutive 90-minute fixtures. That feat stands alone as a new record for the international game among European nations.
They needed to fight for the three points and the triumph against the Three Lions on Saturday evening, and the display demonstrated a key quality that has underpinned the success of the side in the eyes of their coach.
“[The hunger] is down to the players. We select players for a model that has been created for people like this. We still have huge amount of room for improvement, with players who integrate quickly.
‘Tremendous soccer talent’ and family values
“This is a group that goes beyond the professional side of things. There is a human relationship, a family relationship, that encourages everyone to keep growing and sacrificing even more. We have all those values, as well as the fundamental thing: tremendous soccer talent.
“What this generation of players is doing has enormous value. They never stop wanting to improve. The numbers are objective. What Spain is doing is very difficult. We’ll approach the Croatia game in exactly the same way as we approached this one. These players always want to keep improving.
How the comeback took shape
“The comeback started when we created those three very clear chances. The penalty wouldn’t have been so significant if it had gone in. Even at 3-1, the team would have reacted in the same way. The opposition isn’t going to score every time, even though they have tremendous attacking ability.”
