After beating Italy on Thursday to advance to the final of the Nations League, Spain’s head coach Luis de la Fuente claimed that his team’s morale was “sky high” and that they were ready for the match against Croatia.
Joselu scored the game-winning goal for La Roja in stoppage time after Ciro Immobile had equalized for Italy after Yeremy Pino had given La Roja the lead.
The head coach had received significant backlash following the results of his first two matches in the month of March, the second of which was a loss to Scotland.
“(I feel) satisfaction and pride, I think we played an extremely high-level game,” De la Fuente told the press. “I think we played an extremely high-level game.”
“We were very careful to adhere to the plan that we had devised. We are content, and as a result, our morale is over the roof.
The player was given a hand Despite giving up an early penalty for handball, Real Sociedad midfielder Robin Le Normand had a successful debut following his acquisition of Spanish nationality in May. Le Normand was born in France but now holds Spanish citizenship.
“We have seen him so many times, I was very calm, he’s shown he’s top draw, he’s cool-headed, and he’s another player for the cause and the future of Spanish football,” said De la Fuente. “We have seen him so many times.”
“He maintains his composure under pressure and does not show signs of anxiety.” There was the unfortunate mishap that occurred, in which he accidentally made contact with the ball with his hand.
“(However, his level) does not surprise us because that is how he is; he is very good.”
Roberto Mancini, the head coach of Italy, expressed his regret that his team did not take a more offensive stance in the second half.
The coach continued to use the 3-5-2 shape that he decided to use at the beginning of the game, and he observed as his team gradually lost control of the game to Spain.
“I think it is a significant loss because I care about it, and I would have liked to have made it to the final,” stated Mancini. “I would have liked to have made it to the final.”
“We could have gone to a back four, knowing that we would have given them a little bit more ball than they normally get, but instead we chose not to.
It’s possible that we could have attacked more and took up a higher block if we’d tried. Absolutely, the second half was where we let ourselves down the most with our performance.