"We have exceptional footballers," says Spain's coach Luis de la Fuente

Enschede [Netherlands], June 16 : Spain's new coach, Luis de la Fuente, has led his side to the final of the UEFA Nations League after defeating Italy 2-1 in the semi-final match on Friday played at the De Grolsch Veste Stadium in Enschede. Following the win, Luis de la Fuente said, All credit to my players. We have exceptional footballers, as per the official website of UEFA.

Spanish national team is now managed by Luis de la Fuente after Luis Enrique left the post after the FIFA World Cup 2022 exit in the round of 16.

Huge expectations were laid on the shoulder of Luis de la Fuente and he proved his worth as Spain enter the final of the UEFA Nations League.

After the win, in the post-match interview, Luis de la Fuente said, "All credit to my players. We have exceptional footballers. There aren't starters and subs. We have 23 fantastic talents. When you have that, the main thing is to ensure that you take advantage of it," as per the official website of UEFA.

He further added, "We needed time; this is a process. We are trying to consolidate an idea. From the defeat in Scotland, I said I saw things that I liked. But we needed training sessions and time. Even today I see things to improve."

Spain's manager Luis de la Fuente expressed his views in the post-match interview. He said, "The way I'd describe this triumph is satisfaction. And pride. We played a really high-level match. We told the players pre-match what we wanted, and they followed it to the letter. We saw very talented players adding their ability to this win and as a result, we are delighted."

While concluding he said, "The win was against an important rival and it makes me optimistic, because the players understood the instructions and followed them. They believed in the concepts. We were solid, we got the good result because of that," according to the official website of UEFA.

The final of the UEFA Nations League will be played on Monday between Croatia and Spain.

Spain scored an early goal as Yeremy Pino took advantage of a mistake made by Italy's defender Leonardo Bonucci and put the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma to give Spain a 1-0 lead in the match. Yeremy Pino scored in the third minute of the match.

Italy gave a quick reply, as they were awarded a penalty early in the game. Ciro Immobile scored in the 11th minute of the match from a penalty kick to level the game at 1-1.

The first half ended as a draw as both teams attacked well. Spain looked more threatening while attacking in the first half.

In the second half, Spain scored in the last moments of the game. In the 88th minute, Joselu scored a tap-in to give Spain a 2-1 lead in the match.

Italy failed to find a goal to take the match into extra time thus Spain emerged victorious and advanced to the final match.

Spain took a total of 19 shots out of which seven were on target. They had a total of 63 percent of possession on the ball during the match. They completed a total of 648 passes with an accuracy of 87 percent.

Italy took eight shots out of which three were on target. They had a total of 37 percent of possession on the ball during the match. They completed a total of 391 passes with an accuracy of 78 percent.

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