The Spanish coach claims his team is the strongest in the tournament, while the Italian coach expresses admiration for his opponent.

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

Spain defeated Italy 1-0 in their second matchday of Group B at EURO 2024, with the only goal coming from an own goal by Ricardo Calafiori. Despite the one-goal difference, Spain dominated Luciano Spalletti's Italy.

In 90 minutes, the team nicknamed "La Furia Roja" created 20 chances (five times more than Italy), and hit the crossbar twice. Without the talent of Gianluigi Donnarumma, who made at least four crucial saves, Italy could have lost by a large margin.

Spain created a dominant game.

Coach Luis de la Fuente affirmed that Spain displayed a very high level of play when they defeated 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, the EURO is an extremely difficult tournament. The further we go, the more thoroughly our opponents will study Spain. The difficulty of the matches always increases. There are many strong teams in this tournament. However, none are 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 national team from his predecessor Luis Enrique after EURO 2024, coach De la Fuente is helping "La Furia Roja" undergo a transformation. Spain no longer relies solely on ball control, but instead attacks in a more diverse and fluid manner, building up play quickly thanks to technically gifted players like Pedri, Lamine Yamal, and Nico Williams.

Spain's four goals in their first two matches at EURO 2024 came from a variety of beautifully orchestrated attacking plays. However, for coach De la Fuente, the victory against Italy remains the benchmark in his coaching philosophy.

Coach De la Fuente (left) has beaten his counterpart Luciano Spalletti.

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

I must emphasize the quality of this generation of players, as well as the names currently in the squad. Spanish players have always been among the best in the world. I am happy with what I have, but I also don't forget that this generation of Spanish players has yet to win a major tournament.

Spain has won some important matches, but football is always ruthless. We have to be cautious, humble, and respectful of our opponents. Spain must not lose focus and must always maintain balance," coach De la Fuente shared.

Coach Spalletti admires Spain.

Italy's coach Luciano Spalletti, however, believes that Spain is showcasing a model of football that any team should emulate.

"Against a team with such technical skill 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 took it back. It's too difficult to play that way," the former Napoli coach assessed.

Italy couldn't stop Spain.

Coach Spalletti also stated that Italy wants to emulate Spain's style of play because it is a high-class and standardized form of football.

"The Italian team wanted to play the way Spain did. That was a fantastic style of play. Spain only won by one goal, but they deserved it. As for the Italian team, we only really played football and created opportunities in the last 20 minutes. Italy didn't play to their usual level," emphasized coach Spalletti.

Italy will face Croatia in their final match, while Spain will take on Albania. After two rounds, Spain leads with 6 points, Italy has 3 points, while Croatia and Albania each have only 1 point. Italy will advance if they do not lose 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