Luis de la Fuente says Spain have proved they are ‘the best team in the world’ after they outplayed France to set up a World Cup final against England or Argentina.
Spain booked their place in a first World Cup final since 2010 with an emphatic 2-0 win over tournament favourites France.
France have been devastating during the World Cup and were bidding to reach a third successive World Cup final but fell short in Didier Deschamps’ final tournament in charge.
Spain took control of the first World Cup semi-final midway through the first half when Mikel Oyarzabal scored a penalty after Lucas Digne fouled Lamine Yamal.
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France were unable to respond to Spain’s opener and found themselves two goals behind in the second half when Pedro Porro doubled the European Champions’ lead.
Deschamps has a star-studded attack at his disposal but France attempted just ten shots in the game – their lowest total at the World Cup – while Spain kept a sixth clean sheet in seven matches.
Spain will be favourites to win the World Cup final regardless of their opponent, with England and Argentina preparing to go head-to-head for the other place on Wednesday night.
De La Fuente was full of praise for Spain’s performance against France and has hailed his team as ‘the best in the world’.
‘We started almost four years ago with an idea and we’ve been faithful to that idea and it’s brought us here,’ the Euro 2024-winning manager said.
‘Today we faced one of the best national teams in the world, but in front of them they had the best team in the world. That is different.
‘These players deserve everything – day after day they’ve showed their commitment, their solidarity, their generosity, their talent. They make the difficult look easy.’
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane was just as impressed by dominant Spain, describing their performance as ‘absolutely fantastic’.
Asked what Spain got right against France, Keane told ITV: ‘Every part of the game.
‘We talk about playing as a team, work rate off the ball, pride in possession, goal threats. They are used to winning, they won the European Cup.
‘It felt more than a 2-0 victory. They controlled every aspect of the game. We’ve been criticising France but it’s also about giving credit to Spain. Absolutely fantastic.’
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