Spaniards appear to be particularly skilled at frustrating their opponents. Their PM, Pedro Sanchez, showed this on the geopolitical pitch, annoying Trump repeatedly over his refusal to let US use Spain’s airspace for the Iran war.Weeks later, Luis de la Fuente, head of their national team, expressed similar faith in his ‘camaraderie’ theory to frustrate football’s superpowers — Portugal, Belgium, France and finally the ‘untouchables’, Lionel Messi’s Argentina. Spain’s World Cup triumph marks the return of a footballing empire — one built not on the brilliance of superstars, but on the power and appeal of the collective.Having conquered Europe in 2024, Spain’s Sunday victory in New York two years later completed a remarkable renaissance, confirming that the country’s football identity had evolved rather than simply returned.The possession-based approach to suffocate the opposition into submission, kicked off by Luis Aragones, had earned Spain their first continental trophy in 2008, after 44 years.Then, they conquered the world in 2010, riding atop Vicente del Bosque’s passing carousel. The European summit re-scaled in 2012 was the high-point, a delicious mix of passing creativity and penalty box sharpness. But then, Spain lost their way in a passing warp.Caught in the maze of possession, Spain wallowed in the quagmire as Del Bosque’s men failed in 2014. In Qatar 2022, enjoying 75% possession, Luis Enrique’s boys failed to score in 120 minutes against Morocco! In walked Luis de la Fuente. As of Sunday, Spain are yet to lose any of their continental clashes since the 65-year old’s appointment, four years ago. La Roja won all seven games to claim the Euro 2024 scoring 15 goals. This time, they won seven out of eight with one draw, scored 14 and conceded just one. Leveraging a decade of nurturing Spain’s youth teams, he used his deep bonds with players he had nourished since their teenage years.
Unlike many modern international sides that revolve around one transcendent figure, Spain’s greatest strength was that no player was indispensable. Lamine Yamal dazzled, Rodri controlled, Pedri dictated tempo, Nico Williams stretched defences and Ferran Torres, a substitute, delivered the decisive goal. Yet none of them carried the burden alone. With the fate of the final still precariously poised, Rodri made way for Zubimendi for his first taste of the World Cup in the 99th minute. Ideas over icons.The architect of this resurgence was De la Fuente himself. He coached Spain’s Under-19s to the European title in 2015, the Under-21s to the European Championship in 2019, and the Olympic side to silver in Tokyo before taking charge of the senior team in 2022. Many of the players who lifted the World Cup had already learned his theorems as teenagers. Players arrived in the senior squad fluent in De la Fuente’s language. The national team was simply the latest stage of a long developmental journey.Euro 2024 offered the first glimpse of this transformation. Spain abandoned the stereotype of sterile possession that had come to define the latter years of the Xavi-Iniesta era (2008-2012). They added speed, verticality and athleticism.Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams provided width and acceleration, while Rodri and Pedri ensured control in midfield. The European title was the foundation of a larger project that reached its logical conclusion on Sunday.
