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De la Fuente grew up in Harro, in the wine region of La Rioja, home of the Batalla del Vino, the annual wine battle where thousands dress in white and drench each other in red wine.
After retiring as a player in 1994, he spent 15 years in various roles at a succession of different clubs, including lower Spanish league management, youth roles and assistant coach positions.
He was sacked as manager of second-tier Deportivo Alaves – where he ended his playing career – in 2011 and spent the next 18 months out of work and quickly drifted away from football.
His story with the federation began with an act of faith as he saw a newspaper ad to become a youth coach with the Spanish federation.
He called former Spain manager Iñaki Saez, who told FA de la Fuente the ideal man. The contract was for three months, to take Spain’s Under-19 team to the European Championships in Lithuania.
Despite losing to France in the semi-finals, he did enough to earn the contract. He then took Rodri, Unai Simon and Michael Merino to the following Under-19 Euros and won it – and things went on from there.
De la Fuente arrives as Spain’s national team boss in 2022, having coached most of the squad since the teens, through Under-19, Under-21 and Olympic level, winning titles along the way.
He has known Dani Olmo, Martin Jubimendi, Pedri, Michael Warzabal and Mark Cucurella – and their families – for a decade.
His method? Cultivating a culture of respect for their opponents, for the process and promoting patience and composure.
His work and life are built on sacrifice, humility and collective responsibility – sporting values that replicate religious values.
It is shown in small gestures. Half an hour before the Euro 2024 final, as the stadium filled, he was on the phone checking that his family had arrived safely.
It showed again when, at this World Cup, the 65-year-old de la Fuente pulled a federation photographer into a collective hug with the squad, only to learn mid-match that the man’s mother had died.
It showed even more poignantly before the semi-final against France, when a question about his own brother – who had died three years earlier – apparently broke him at the pre-match press conference.
Family, for de la Fuente, is the truly important thing, the foundation of everything around him. His son Alberto is a member of Spain’s coaching staff.
