Spain coach Luis de la Fuente says his World Cup winning squad is already looking ahead, insisting that the mentality inside the camp is about the next challenge rather than past glory as La Roja prepare to open their Nations League campaign against England at Wembley.

The 65 year old, who has led Spain to the 2023 Nations League title, Euro 2024 and this summer’s World Cup, told UEFA that his team’s focus is on the here and now. He described the new campaign as a fresh story and a new film in which the players want to be the stars, adding that the group intends to be fully focused from the opening whistle.

De la Fuente also revealed how the team reacted after lifting the World Cup in July. He explained that after celebrating together, one of his players asked what more there was left for them to win, and his answer was simply that the next game was against England. That reply, he suggested, sums up a squad that remains hungry for achievement. Many of the players have been with him for more than a decade, having come through the Spanish youth ranks from Under 19 level, through the Under 21s and the Olympic Games, all the way to the senior side.

The fixture carries extra edge given recent history. Spain beat England 2 goals to 1 in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin, with Mikel Oyarzabal scoring the winner late on, so the Wembley meeting is a rematch of one of the biggest games of the coach’s tenure. It is also Spain’s first match since winning the World Cup, and it will be followed three days later by a home game against Croatia in Seville. They then travel to Oviedo to face the Czech Republic in October.

The build up has also been marked by good news off the pitch for the coach. The Spanish Football Federation has handed De la Fuente a new contract running until 2032, with federation board chairman Rafael Louzan describing him as the most successful head coach in the history of the national team and saying he deserves a long term future at the federation.

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