De la Fuente warns Spain against complacency
Spain is now unbeaten in its past 40 matches, winning the UEFA European championship and the FIFA World Cup in that span, but Luis de la Fuente still wants more from his red hot side.
Spain's most recent competitive defeat was in March 2023, when it was beaten 2-0 by Scotland in a UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier.
Lamine Yamal helped himself to a brace and was joined on the scoresheet by Marc Pubill and Nico Williams as La Roja crushed Croatia 4-1 in the UEFA Nations League on Wednesday (AEST), building on its thrilling 3-2 victory over England at Wembley three days earlier.
But De la Fuente has warned there is no room for complacency ahead of Sundays (AEST) meeting with Czechia and the return fixture in Croatia next Wednesday (AEST).
"The first half could have ended 4-1 or 5-1 and the second half was more of the same," De la Fuente said.
"We had a team in front of us that defends well, that attacks the aerial balls with power, and we have to get our act together in those situations.
"I am a perfectionist. I am convinced that you can always improve, and these players are the same. The room for improvement is very large.
"They haven't reached their ceiling and it's a very young team.
"One day someone will beat us, and we will say the opposite. Things can be improved – we don't want to die of success."
Spain has won nine straight games in all competitions, matching its previous best streak under De la Fuente, which came between June and July 2024.
Both of those sequences included a major tournament win, with La Roja lifting UEFA Euro 2024 and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Yamal's brace came less than a month before the Ballon d'Or award ceremony, with the Barcelona winger competing with Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane to be crowned the world's best player.
De la Fuente believes Yamal deserves greater recognition for his out-of-possession work, saying: "Lamine is eager to continue growing and show the world the type of player he is. He is so humble and this makes him greater.
"We all enjoy his magic at the service of the team, and in the future, he will be much more recognised for what he does for the collective game. We're lucky to have him.
"The Ballon d'Or owes much to Spanish football and our players are the best in the world.
"It doesn't matter if it is Lamine, Fabian [Ruiz], Rodri, [Marc] Cucurella or Ferran [Torres]. Hopefully they will value us."
