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After Spain's shock exit from the World Cup, they have relieved Luis Enrique of his duties and confirmed that the nation's under-21 manager Luis de la Fuente will take over as boss of the senior team
As expected, many names have been linked to the currently vacant position of head coach of the Spanish national team, but the Royal Spanish Football Federation have decided to award the job to the current coach of the under-21 team, Luis de la Fuente.
Who is Luis de la Fuente?
Before becoming manager of Spain's youth team, 61-year-old Luis de la Fuente was a graduate of Athletic Bilbao's youth system and played for their senior team for eight years across two spells for the La Liga side winning the league title on two occasions in 1983 and 1984.
He also had spells with Sevilla and Alaves before retiring in 1994 and delving into managerial life.
He coached Bilbao's youth teams and Alaves' senior team before being appointed manager of Spain's U-19 team in 2013. Luis de la Fuente won the UEFA European Under-19 Championship with Spain in 2015 before moving to the under-21 team, where he also won the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2019.
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He was also the manager of the Spain Under-23 team that claimed a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, losing to Brazil in the final.
Why Luis de la Fuente?
Luis de la Fuente enters the national team set up with a wealth of experience and will be familiar with many of Spain's budding talents that the country seems to bet its football future on, and this is what makes him a prime candidate ahead of more notable names in the Spanish coaching pool.
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