Luis de la Fuente said Spain’s ability to maintain their winning run despite major changes to the team was “impressive” after a 3-1 victory over Czech Republic.
The Spain manager was pleased with his side’s first-half performance but admitted their fluency dropped after the interval, partly because of the substitutions made during the match.
“This highlights what we talk about time and time again: the level of football among all the teams we face,” De la Fuente said after the game.
“If they have their best day, any opponent can hurt you. Every team has quality.”
Spain were less assured after half-time, with the changes disrupting the rhythm of the match and leaving the team slightly unbalanced.
“In the second half we lacked fluency,” De la Fuente said. “The substitutions broke up the game, and we missed the spark we had shown during the first half. The team became a little unbalanced in that respect.”
However, the change in performance did not lessen his satisfaction with the result.
“We are very happy. Another victory, and the numbers are impressive,” he said, referring to Spain’s continuing unbeaten run.
De la Fuente also underlined the strength of the squad after Spain made significant alterations to their starting line-up in the absence of several established players, including Grimaldo, Ferran Torres, Nico Williams and Fabian Ruiz.
“I wanted to highlight that,” he said. “The team never stops growing and is producing players for the future. We ended up with only one player who played in a World Cup final, and it is still a team that creates a great deal of ambition.”
The manager said Spain would continue with its policy of widening the pool of players available to the national team and giving opportunities to new faces.
“We will continue to believe in this idea and this model,” De la Fuente said, while expressing his hope that all of the absent players would recover quickly.
“We need everyone to be in excellent condition,” he added.
The match also had a personal significance for De la Fuente, who was reunited with Santi Denia and Pablo Amo, former members of his coaching staff.
“We have wonderful memories together. They are outstanding professionals,” he said.
De la Fuente also praised Czech Republic for their performance, highlighting the team’s progress, pressing and quality. Despite the defeat by Spain, he predicted a positive future for the project led by Denia.
