Delafuente explains why he focused on defense, leading to Germany equalizing hotfuns

hotfuns Luis de la Fuente has explained why he left out Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals as they beat Germany 2-1 in extra time. hotfuns

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has hit out at criticism for his conservative approach which led to Germany equalising late on, before Miguel Merino’s header in extra-time in their Euro 2024 quarter-final, he told Cadena Cope on Monday.  ( hotfuns ) 

‘We have to improve everything, you can always do that. We have to press better, we have to release ourselves more and we have to make sure we are more aware and careful in defence because with the way we play we expose ourselves a lot, and in attack we have to be more effective, take advantage of the chances we have and not give the ball away to allow the opposition to play quick counter-attacks,’ De la Fuente said.

The 63-year-old was criticised for being too conservative in the second half against Germany, with the substitutes Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams bringing on Ferran Torres and Miguel Merino and opting for a more defensive approach as the Germans forced a late equaliser.

‘Yes, we always like certain players and sometimes it seems like changing them is an anomaly. With the substitutions we tried to go beyond the current one. Knowing Germany, what we were looking for was more freshness, with players who worked more in defence. We didn’t want to leave Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal deep and not have a chance to win. In addition, we won and the players who played had a big influence on the final result,’ the Spain coach explained.