Bosses have silenced the doubters in battle for European supremacy

SUCCESS with Spain did not take long to arrive for the man now plotting England’s downfall on Sunday.

- Dom Smith

Luis de la Fuente joined the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) as Spain Under19s manager in 2013, the same year Gareth Southgate became England’s U-21 boss.

Within two years he had won the 2015 European U-19 Championship with a squad featuring Mikel Merino, Unai Simon and Rodri.

By 2019, with Southgate by now England manager, De la Fuente had been promoted to Spain U-21 boss and led them to Euros glory with a group of players including Simon, Fabian Ruiz, Mikel Oyarzabal and Dani Olmo.

Then, in 2021, he led Spain to a silver medal at the delayed Tokyo Olympics with Simon, Oyarzabal, Merino and Olmo, plus Pedri, Martin Zubimendi and Marc Cucurella.

Every player mentioned above has featured for Spain at Euro 2024 and De la Fuente has them all dreaming of more success against England in the final on Sunday.

The 63-year-old does not have a long list of elite clubs on his CV, and there are other similarities between him and Southgate.