Every team remaining in this World Cup has one thing in common: a clear idea.
National teams don’t have time to create complex club teams, so the message needs to be simple and repeatable.
This is Spain’s advantage. Their football identity has been shaped over decades.
Players and coaches are selected because they fit the idea, not the other way around. And they were able to develop their style because the basics were already there.
Some argue that they have a distinct advantage over national teams who are trying a “new project” with a new coach.
De la Fuente inherited this personality and, to paraphrase what Pep Guardiola once said when talking about Johan Cruyff, De la Fuente “didn’t build the cathedral, he just repainted it from time to time.”
The Spain coach added layers: more versatility, more depth, more comfort in transition, more unpredictability in the final third, more durability.
Spain are still recognisable, still “the easiest team to analyse”, as a member of Portugal’s staff told me after their Round of 16 defeat, but “the hardest to beat”.
He knows these players because he worked with them at youth level for ten years.
His coaching decisions reflect that familiarity. His staff logically analyzes each match in detail and learns what the adjustments are.
In the match against Cape Verde, Spain lacked passing agility. Against Saudi Arabia, the machine ran smoothly again.
In the match against Uruguay, he knew that Spain had historically lost matches when they were drawn into provocation and chaos, so he insisted on calm, discipline and emotional control.
De la Fuente admits that in the past he would have reacted more emotionally.
He said: “Experience has taught me to face these situations many times. I’ve been through these games – I’ve already lived through them and usually lost. Why? Because we didn’t know how to play certain types of games.”
“So when someone annoys you, throws you off your game, distracts you, you find yourself interrupting, pausing with changing disruptive rhythms.”
This taught him that Spain loses when it gives up its identity.
His press conferences reflect the same values. He prepares them with the help of Aitor Karanka, the federation’s football director, media team, and the FA’s psychologist, former player Javier Lopez Vallejo, but he improvises when the situation demands it.
He speaks from the heart. He calls journalists by name because he was taught at home that “respect begins with recognizing the person in front of you.”
He looks people in the eye and treats them as equals. He insists these are not media stunts.