Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has declared his team 'the best in the world' after they defeated France 2-0 to reach the World Cup final, where they will face either England or Argentina.
Dominant display against France
Spain booked their place in a first World Cup final since 2010 with an emphatic victory over tournament favourites France, who were bidding for a third successive final in Didier Deschamps' final tournament in charge. Spain took control midway through the first half when Mikel Oyarzabal scored a penalty after Lucas Digne fouled Lamine Yamal. Pedro Porro doubled the lead in the second half.
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. De la Fuente praised his team's performance and hailed them as 'the best in the world'.
De la Fuente's pride
'It is difficult to describe how one feels, but I know it is something that resembles happiness,' the Euro 2024-winning manager said. 'The pride I have for every single one of this group of players is great, but now we have to keep going. We still have one more step to go. We're going to try to achieve it.'
'A lot of tension builds up, it is a huge responsibility, and to be in the final of a World Cup is a luxury. It is only for the chosen ones and the rest have to try to repeat it, not in this squad, but when we started almost four years ago with an idea, a philosophy and that has brought us here. I'm so proud of this.'
Message to opponents
'Today we played one of the national teams in the world, but they came up against the best team in the world. That is different. These players deserve it all because they show day after day their commitment, their generosity, their talent. It was marvelous to see them play so spectacularly today. They make the difficult look so easy. Happy, proud and what calms me now is that we start to realise where we are.'
Roy Keane's praise
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane described Spain's performance as 'absolutely fantastic'. Asked what Spain got right, 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.'
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.
