Luis de la Fuente

Born in Haro, La Rioja, de la Fuente graduated from Athletic Bilbao's youth system, and made his senior debut with the reserves in 1978, in the Segunda División B. On 8 March 1981, he made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–0 away draw against Valencia. De la Fuente was promoted to the main squad in the summer of 1982. He scored his first professional goal on 26 March 1983, closing the 4–0 home win over Celta de Vigo. In July 1987, de la Fuente signed for fellow top-flight club Sevilla, and continued to appear regularly the following campaigns in defence or as a left winger. In 1991, he returned to Athletic for a 20 million pesetas fee, featuring rarely under coach Jupp Heynckes who arrived one year later. De la Fuente joined Alavés in 1993, with the side in the third tier. After one season, he retired at the age of 33. De la Fuente earned caps for Spain at youth level. He also represented the under-23 side in qualification for the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Early years

De la Fuente's first managerial job was at Portugalete in the regional leagues. In summer 2000, he was appointed at Segunda División B club Aurrerá de Vitoria, but was sacked in March of the following year in spite of a seventh place in the table. After a spell back at Sevilla (academy), de la Fuente returned to Athletic. Initially a manager of the youths and the reserves, he also acted as match delegate for two years before returning to his previous duties. On 13 July 2011, de la Fuente was named Alavés coach, being dismissed on 17 October.

Spain youths

On 5 May 2013, de la Fuente was appointed at the helm of the Spain under-19 team, who won the 2015 UEFA European Championship in Greece. He became manager of the under-21 side in July 2018, after Albert Celades resigned. His first competition was the 2019 European Championship in Italy, conquered after the 2–1 final defeat of Germany in Udine. On 8 June 2021, de la Fuente and his team filled in as the Spain senior side for a UEFA Euro 2020 friendly against Lithuania, after the aforementioned squad had gone into isolation when Sergio Busquets tested positive for COVID-19. They won 4–0 in Leganés. De la Fuente was also in charge of the Spanish Olympic team at the delayed 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. His side won the silver medal, losing 2–1 to Brazil in the final.

Spain senior

On 8 December 2022, de la Fuente was appointed head coach of the senior side, as Luis Enrique resigned following…

Due to his background coaching in youth setups, de la Fuente liked to work with younger players familiar to him and not high-maintenance. Mikel Merino, Dani Olmo, Mikel Oyarzabal, Fabián Ruiz and Unai Simón won the under-21 European championship title during his tenure, and later represented the full team under the same manager. He explained his philosophy by stating that "I come from a grassroots background. Our commitment, to the people we trust in the youth system, is not a pose, it is a conviction". Spain often dominated possession under de la Fuente, also starting to use a more traditional centre-forward and delivering more crosses to the box.

De la Fuente married a woman from Andalusia, with whom he had three children. One son, Alberto, was also involved in the sport, and at one point worked with his father in the Royal Spanish Football Federation as an analyst. Raised Catholic yet lapsed for some time, de la Fuente ultimately embraced the religion again in adulthood.