By Correspondent

Spanish football authority has confirmed the appointment of Luis de la Fuente as the national senior men football coach.

The announcement followed the departure of the former handler, Luis Enrique who left his position after the Spanish team lost 3-0 on penalty against Morocco in the Last 16 clash at the ongoing World Cup in Qatar.

Luis Enrique took the baton from Fernando Hierro in 2018 for a year before passing it on to Robert Moreno for a brief period of six months. Spain FA re-appointed Luis Enrique in November 2019 again with Euro 2020 and FIFA World Cup 2022 in mind.

During his first stint, from July 2018 to March 2019, he won six out of eight games. During the second stint, from November 2019 to December 2022, he won 17 out of 32 games. This also includes Spain’s achievement as Runners-up in UEFA Nations League as well as a semifinalist in Euro 2020.

De la Fuente’s first managerial job was at Club Portugalete, in the regional leagues. In summer 2000 he was appointed at Segunda División B club CD 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, de la Fuente returned to Athletic. Initially a manager of 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.

On 5 May 2013 he was appointed at the helm of the Spain under-19 team, who won the 2015 UEFA European Championship in Greece.

De la Fuente 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 1–0 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 warm-up 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 games in Japan.

His side won the silver medal, losing 2–1 to Brazil in the final.[21] On 8 December 2022, De La Fuente was appointed as the head coach of Spain National Football team (subject to board approval).

This happened after a shock elimination of the Spanish national team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup by Morocco.