This was the Euros of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, two adolescents off the pitch who became gamebreakers in a contest that modified their lives eternally. It was the competitors of Rodri, a Ballon d’Or contender within the making. But generally, it belongs to a staff who’ve been head and shoulders above everybody else.
Luis de la Fuente’s facet swept previous Germany, France and ultimately England — the three largest candidates to win the competitors — and none of them might complain.
Spain followers will keep in mind Euro 2024 as a result of it was not one other win: it was an sudden one. This squad was meant to be good, however not this good, and particularly not at this age. They have gained seven video games out of seven. The finest participant of the event, in addition to the very best younger participant, have been Rodri and Yamal.
The Athletic has spoken to a number of individuals over the previous 4 weeks, many talking on situation of anonymity as they weren’t cleared to talk publicly on the time, to inform the within story of what their success has been constructed on. It consists of…
- The management of Alvaro Morata
- The unnoticed expertise De la Fuente confirmed to the world
- How the gamers embraced the change of favor
- The Yamal and Williams explosion
Morata — misunderstood however a ‘good captain’
Morata is fascinating. The 31-year-old striker has not been considered one of Spain’s standout performers, he scored one objective in seven video games, and it’s the one place De la Fuente would respect an enchancment in.
But it’s unimaginable to analyse this Spain staff with out the determine of its captain — and the most-loved character within the dressing room.
“Media have given him and maintain giving him a number of stick… however I’m telling you: he’s the very best bloke in that dressing room,” stated one particular person accustomed to the staff atmosphere in Germany when requested about Morata.
“You may suppose that’s how I’ll describe each participant we’ve got right here, however that’s not low-cost reward. Trust me. A superb captain, the proper man for this group.”
Morata lifts the trophy as captain (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Both issues are true. The quantity of stress Morata has needed to take care of during the last three main competitions for Spain has been nearly unprecedented. He was booed by his personal followers in March in a pleasant on the Santiago Bernabeu. “My children can’t perceive why followers are booing his dad,” he stated in Germany.
But contained in the dressing room, the place it issues most, the sensation is the other. “Morata is undoubtedly the participant who creates extra bonds contained in the group and one of many funniest guys. Whenever he’s speaking, all of the younger guys hearken to him and his tales, he’s good,” stated Yamal earlier than the beginning of the competitors, to the shock of many followers.
He has been the guts of the bottom camp Spain set in Donaueschingen, a small city within the Black Forest. Apart from having Yamal, Williams, Fermin Lopez or Alex Baena paying shut consideration to his tales, he has given golf courses to Marc Cucurella and Alex Remiro.
He was a poker associate for Dani Carvajal, Joselu, David Raya and Ayoze Perez. Before the beginning of the competitors, he requested each participant to decide on a tune to placed on their Spotify playlist to have all tastes represented and he was the DJ of the dressing room. The tune La Potra Salvaje turned an anthem and was performed after each win as soon as the total squad was on the staff bus.
He has taken the diplomacy reins, too. Morata led the negotiations with the Spanish FA to outline the bonuses associated to performances. He needed an additional share of the whole bonus break up among the many employees that works each day with them — from the equipment males to the media staff, from physiotherapists to the cooks.
In the build-up to the ultimate, he was supposed to talk alongside the supervisor within the press convention. Instead, he requested the FA to place Jesus Navas in place, so the 38-year-old might announce he was retiring from the nationwide staff.
Morata stated throughout the competitors that “he doesn’t really feel valued in Spain and typically you are feeling extra love from overseas”. He has been working with psychologists and after profitable the competitors, he confessed to nationwide TV, La 1, that two ex-Spanish gamers prevented him from retiring.
“If it had not been for Andres Iniesta and Bojan Krkic, I might not have performed this Euros. They are the kind of people who find themselves presents from life. They went via related conditions I’ve had right here. At the tip of the tunnel, there may be all the time mild.”
This Euros turned Morata into the fourth-best goalscorer ever for Spain, with 36 targets in 80 video games. De la Fuente stated that, if he needed to reincarnate as a participant of his staff, it could be his captain.
He may as nicely retire after this success, however Morata’s instance has had a deep impression — his mission accomplished.
De la who?
Declan Rice stated he didn’t know the Spanish supervisor earlier than this Euros and you’ll’t actually blame him for it — De la Fuente’s expertise at a membership stage is decreased, at its finest, to 2 failed tasks in Spain’s third tier.
But on a world stage, it’s one other story. The 63-year-old has been part of Spain’s setup since 2013 — sufficient time to function in 5 main tournaments within the youth ranks. He turned champion in two and reached the semi-finals a minimum of in all of them. Despite Euro 2024 being his first expertise at a senior stage, he has delivered once more.
De la Fuente hugs Williams — whose partnership with Yamal has been key to Spain’s success (Odd Andersen/AFP through Getty Images)
He created an pleasant atmosphere across the staff moderately than preferring names cherished by the media, comparable to defender Sergio Ramos or Real Madrid ahead Brahim Diaz, the latter ultimately opting to characterize Morocco.
De la Fuente’s largest achievement has been passing on his expertise in knockout tournaments to a squad who’ve by no means appeared shocked by the most important stage.
“I’m totally satisfied that the gamers we’ve got listed below are the very best we’ve got to win this. I might not change any of them,” he stated when he introduced his squad.
“The absolute precedence we had was to ensure we discovered position distribution on the pitch. Let each participant know what we anticipated from them and present how they may make the distinction,” a member of the teaching employees says to The Athletic.
“We had a fairly strong construction from earlier than the competitors. The gamers knew it. We knew them so nicely from youth ranks. All was set and we simply wanted to place the ball into the again of the online. As quickly because it occurred… it clicked.”
Spain’s dressing room knew few individuals have been tipping them for glory, however they’ve used that as motivation to show individuals flawed.
“This technology has a profitable mentality, proven from the youth ranks,” stated Mikel Merino earlier than the beginning of the event. “This is the most important of the pressures and what we set ourselves for. We don’t have a look at what’s stated on the surface.”
For all of the younger stars, the veterans performed a selected position, too. Navas was the one participant left from the 2008 Spanish golden technology, led by Xavi Hernandez, Iker Casillas, Iniesta and Ramos.
Navas has been coping with a persistent hip damage for the final 4 seasons however, regardless of the whole lot, he needed to be there. He was wanted to start out within the semi-final in opposition to France after Dani Carvajal was despatched off within the quarter-final win over Germany. He performed 58 minutes through which he was in a position to include Kylian Mbappe.
That identical night time, individuals briefed on the scenario say Navas couldn’t sleep because of the ache he was in together with his hip.
The instance he set to the youthful technology in that staff concerning the values and dedication to defend the shirt, within the eyes of De la Fuente’s employees, is as valuable as any win they may get.
Spain have been satisfied they may go all the way in which due to De la Fuente’s religion in them. When the remainder of the world realised that, it was too late to make them crumble.
Players embraced the brand new period
A 3-0 win in opposition to Croatia within the opening sport revealed loads about Spain: the tiki-taka days have been gone. Spain had much less possession for the primary time in 136 aggressive matches — however deservedly gained.
Becoming a flexible staff was the most important demand De la Fuente sought when he was appointed because the nationwide supervisor after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as reminiscences of the defeat on penalties to Morocco have been recent and poignant.
De la Fuente has concerned sure gamers throughout the basic management of the group — and listened to as lots of them as potential.
Particularly related was a second within the quarter-final in opposition to Germany. During the second half, with the hosts pushing for an equaliser, Carvajal requested his supervisor to take Yamal off, because the German wing-backs have been inflicting issues and {the teenager} was struggling to maintain up with the monitoring again. De la Fuente agreed and Ferran Torres changed him within the 63rd minute.
Another of the gamers who has been listened to has been Rodri. The Manchester City midfielder believed that neutralising their opposition’s counter-attacks was essential if Spain needed to beat the very best groups.
Rodri was named the very best participant of the event (Javier Soriano/AFP through Getty Images)
The prime instance arrived earlier than the last-four assembly with France. The staff had barely time to coach, as they wanted to get well health ranges, so De la Fuente targeted on one side: counter-pressing after dropping the ball and guarding in opposition to counter-attacks.
De la Fuente believed the fundamentals of their fashion have been so well-processed by his gamers that he most well-liked to focus coaching on decreasing their weaknesses. The assistant supervisor and former La Liga participant, Pablo Amo, is among the names praised for his position in coaching.
“Thanks to the work Spanish academies are placing in, we consider the Spanish footballers are those with the very best decision-making on the planet,” a member of the teaching employees says.
“All gamers need to determine what each play requires and the execution that follows is often proper. Knowing we’ve got that, for us it was solely to spice up it and attempt to appropriate the issues we lacked essentially the most.
“We usually are not right here to enhance our gamers as a result of we don’t have the time. If they’re right here, it’s as a result of they’re already so good at many issues. Our solely objective is to make our participant’s life in-game simpler. That’s how we plan.”
Yamal and Williams announce themselves to the world
For them, it began in Georgia within the qualifiers. It was September 2023 and De la Fuente had simply gained the Nations League, however the stress on him had not light utterly.
Spain clinched the trophy with two hard-fought wins, one in further time and the opposite after penalties, in opposition to Italy and Croatia. Results have been higher than emotions and there was loads of work to do. Their place on the Euros was not secured after a loss in Scotland.
Spain have been about to journey to face Georgia, a facet in opposition to whom they’d struggled to beat. De la Fuente opted to make use of a refreshing duo on the wings: Williams and Yamal performed collectively for the primary time. Spain gained 7-1 they usually each scored.
Yamal and Williams share a second in Berlin on the closing whistle (Jewel SAMAD / AFP)
Four days later, Williams and Yamal began one other qualifier, in opposition to Cyprus — Spain gained 6-0. Williams supplied two assists, whereas Yamal’s craft blew everybody’s thoughts. That was the start of the partnership that lit up Euro 2024.
“That journey to Georgia is vital to understanding success,” says a member of the backroom employees. “It was a launch level. Pressure was nonetheless round and the way in which we performed helped us to consider we have been heading in the right direction.”
The means Yamal and Williams clicked on and off the pitch was past their wildest desires.
The wingers obtained to know one another in September final 12 months due to Barcelona and Spain full-back Alejandro Balde. Yamal and Williams have been quickly sharing rooms on worldwide obligation, filming TikToks and bolstering their chemistry on the pitch.
In Germany, the bromance saved going. Williams, 22, referred to as Yamal “his son” as he claimed “he nonetheless must be taught from the recommendation of his elder one”. The teenager would reply to his joke saying he utterly owned his counterpart after they confronted one another at EA FC24.
Williams was the person of the match within the closing in opposition to England; Yamal was the younger participant of the event. They have been concerned in eight targets within the event.
“They are the brand new period,” a member of the Spanish FA advised The Athletic. They have turn into the indeniable favourites of each fan. They are position fashions in a rustic the place coping with racism in sport has been debated repeatedly, two younger athletes from an immigrant background are displaying everybody what the actual Spain appears like.
“They are a relentless pleasure, they’ve added this to the staff” De la Fuente stated. “We have a mature squad, very skilled, after which these guys are so enjoyable to be with. They’ve fitted so nicely with the veterans, who took the recent air they introduced and revitalised themselves, too. Our extra senior gamers assist loads in guiding them. The change and impression is actually optimistic.”
Now it is going to be time to have a look at their speedy future — particularly within the case of Williams. Will Athletic Bilbao be capable to maintain him? His £55million ($71.4m) launch clause will certainly be too tempting for prime European golf equipment…
Turning points into blessings
Nobody would consider dropping a participant comparable to Pedri to damage may very well be excellent news — but it surely turned out to open a door for Dani Olmo. The RB Leipzig attacking midfielder was not a starter however ended the Euro 2024 as the highest goalscorer with three targets. He got here on within the eighth minute in opposition to Germany after Pedri’s damage and took a starring position.
The on the spot options De la Fuente has discovered to the minor points that emerged all through the competitors have been a decisive issue of their success.
Olmo celebrates his semi-final winner in opposition to France (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Nacho began in opposition to Croatia after a superb end-of-season at Real Madrid as Aymeric Laporte was struggling some bodily discomfort. Then it was Nacho who was injured and reopened a door for Laporte to flourish as their finest centre-back.
De la Fuente had a giant name to make on the left-back position. He opted for Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella in entrance of Alex Grimaldo, who starred for Bayer Leverkusen, and it was impressed.
“Sometimes we consider we have to use the very best gamers out there, but it surely’s extra essential to make use of those that make your staff higher,” one particular person with an understanding of the dressing room atmosphere stated. Cucurella excelled defensively and his good cross arrange Mikel Oyarzabal to attain the winner within the closing.
Then there may be Fabian Ruiz. The 28-year-old Paris Saint-Germain midfielder was one of many starters with the bottom pedigree among the many group earlier than Euro 2024. He scored as soon as and laid on one other in opposition to Croatia and was a dominant midfielder all through the competitors.
Fabian was one of many stars of the event (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
There has been an emergence of sudden heroes, too. Merino scored the winner in opposition to Germany in the identical stadium the place his dad scored for Osasuna again within the Nineteen Nineties.
And Oyarzabal, the Real Sociedad ahead who missed the final World Cup attributable to a severe knee damage, vindicated his restoration course of with the 86th-minute winner in opposition to England.
Football isn’t meant to be a good sport, however Spain weren’t meant to be the very best staff on this competitors.
(Top pictures: Getty; Dan Mullan, Miguel Medina/AFP, Ina Fassbender/AFP; design: Dan Goldfarb)
