Spain’s head coach Luis de la Fuente said his team knows that France is a better team than what they faced in the semifinals of Euro 2024. Spain registered a 2-1 win in the continental tournament with Lamine Yamal scoring a stunning goal. Dani Olmo also found the back of the net for La Roja.
France is currently ranked at numero uno position in the FIFA rankings whereas Spain is in third place. Thus, it is expected to be a mouth-watering contest between two heavy European powerhouses.
The forward line of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise will definitely test Spain’s solid defense and it would be a contest to behold for all the football fans.
“France are much better now than what they were when we faced them before,” De La Fuente said. “Individually, they have grown. [Kylian] Mbappé is better, [Ousmane] Dembélé is better. As a team, they are better. We have also improved as well.”
The gaffer said they have done their homework ahead of their crucial clash against France.
“We’ve studied France very carefully,” De La Fuente said. “Their footballing quality is exceptional. But so is ours. The objective is to prevent those players from running freely, stop them from connecting with each other, and reduce the impact of their strengths as much as possible. That’s football.”
De la Fuente said his team must bring their A-game to the pitch against a quality team like France.
“I’ve said before that this could easily have been the tournament final,” De La Fuente added. “The other semifinal between Argentina and England could also be considered a World Cup final. The four remaining teams are among the best in the FIFA rankings — the four best in the world.
“That means we have to keep improving. We must eliminate unnecessary mistakes. We can’t give the opponent easy opportunities. We need to control the game as much as possible. We have to be disciplined and intelligent in both penalty areas, defensively and offensively. Those are the messages we’ll give our players.”
Spain plays France in the FIFA World Cup semifinals at AT&T Stadium on Tuesday.
