Spanish coach admits his team is the strongest in the tournament, Italian coach respects his opponent

Coach De la Fuente: 'No team is stronger than Spain'

Spain defeated Italy 1-0 in their second match of Group B at EURO 2024, with Ricardo Calafiori scoring the only goal. Despite only winning by a single goal, Spain dominated Luciano Spalletti's Italy.

In 90 minutes, the team nicknamed "La Furia Roja" created 20 chances (5 times more than Italy), hitting the crossbar twice. If it weren't for the talent of Gianluigi Donnarumma with at least 4 brilliant saves, Italy could have lost very badly.

Spain created a superior game

Coach Luis de la Fuente affirmed that Spain performed at a very high level when defeating both Croatia and Italy, scoring 4 goals and conceding none.

"I am proud of this victory, as well as the way we played to win. However, EURO is an extremely difficult tournament. The further we go, the more our opponents will learn about Spain. The difficulty of the match always increases. There are many strong teams present in this tournament. However, no team is stronger than Spain. We must continue to work hard, improve and keep our feet on the ground," coach De la Fuente analyzed.

Taking over the Spanish team from his predecessor Luis Enrique after EURO 2024, coach De la Fuente is helping "La Furia Roja" change. Spain no longer abuses ball control, but attacks more diversely, smoothly, and moves the ball quickly thanks to skilled players like Pedri, Lamine Yamal or Nico Williams.

Spain's four goals in their first two games at EURO 2024 came from a number of spectacular attacking plays. But for coach De la Fuente, the victory over Italy remains the hallmark of his coaching philosophy.

Coach De la Fuente (left) defeated his colleague Luciano Spalletti

"We played well against Italy in the Nations League, but EURO 2024 is a different story. This is a match where Spain played better than we did in the previous match. I always want to promote Spanish football - the number 1 football in the world.

I have to stress the quality of this generation of players, as well as the names that are present in the squad. Spanish players are always among the best in the world. I am happy with what I have, but I must not forget that this generation of Spain has not won a single tournament.

Spain have won some important matches, but football is cruel. We have to be careful, humble and respect our opponents. Spain cannot lose focus and must always maintain balance," said coach De la Fuente.

Coach Spalletti admires Spain

Italy coach Luciano Spaletti said: Spain is playing exemplary football that any team should follow.

"Against a team with such technical quality and playing such football, we couldn't defend. Spain put pressure on Italy from the inside out. Every time we won the ball back, they won it. It's too difficult to play that way," the former Napoli coach assessed.

Italy can't stop Spain

Coach Spalletti also said that Italy wants to copy Spain's style of play, because it is classy and standard football.

"The Italian team wanted to play the way Spain played. It was a great game. Spain only won by one goal, but they deserved to win. As for the Italian team, we only really played and created chances in the last 20 minutes. Italy did not play at their level," coach Spalletti emphasized.

Italy will face Croatia in the final match, while Spain will face Albania. After two matches, Spain leads with 6 points, Italy has 3 points, while Croatia and Albania have only 1 point each. Italy will go through if they avoid defeat to Croatia.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-tay-ban-nha-tu-nhan-doi-minh-manh-nhat-giai-hlv-y-ne-phuc-doi-thu-185240621052123109.htm