SPAIN manager Luis de la Fuentes tonight declared he was happy with the performance of his team in their 2-0 defeat to Scotland at Hampden and refused to rule out their chances of topping their Euro 2024 qualifying section.
A Scott McTominay double secured a famous win for Steve Clarke’s team against the former World Cup and European Championship winners and sent them three points ahead of their Pot One opponents at the top of Group A.
De La Fuentes, who took over from Luis Enrique after his country was knocked out of the Qatar 2022 finals by Morocco on penalties at the last 16 stage last year, became the first Spain manager to lose his first away game since Vicente Miera in 1991
But he insisted he was content with the visitors’ display.
Spain beat Norway 3-0 in their opening Euro 2024 qualifier in Malaga on Saturday night and their new manager is confident that Rodri and his team mates can still make it through to the finals in Germany next year automatically.
“The game went how we thought it would,” he said. “It was a difficult game, very dense. We had our chances to score. But we didn’t finish them. But overall I am happy with what I saw on the pitch. It bodes well for the future.
“It (the 2-0 defeat to Scotland) doesn’t change our overall plan. There are still six matches left so we are going to go for it in them. We will keep on working and hopefully get the results we need.”
De la Fuente added: “Scotland have a very powerful team. They are very strong physically with some good individuals. But it is far too early to predict how the group is going to go. There are still six games to go.
“I am not happy with the defeat, but we can think of the future. I am satisfied with certain movements we worked on in training and that we saw on the pitch. We can still polish them, improve and work on them going forward.”
