Luis de la Fuente talked to Sid Lowe for ‘The Guardian’ about the recent success of the Spanish national team and stopped at the figure of a Lamine Yamal called to become one of the best players in history: “There are players who are different and I don’t want to go into the classic comparisons between them. They all looked much different and much more veteran when they were really young”.

Spain kick off their Nations League title defence in Serbia. A complicated destination for many national teams, but an approachable one for a team that surpassed all expectations with the conquest of the European Championship a few weeks ago in Germany.

‘La Roja’ had as one of their great stars Lamine Yamal, but the achievement of the tournament also boosted the figure of a Luis de la Fuente who silenced the critics by becoming one of the few coaches who has been able to win a major title with Spain.

The coach spoke to ‘The Guardian’ before the Serbia-Spain match and spoke about a Barcelona player who continues to burn stages at an unparalleled speed: “Lamine is soo good. It’s true what I said about him being touched by God’s wand. There are players who are different and I don’t want to make comparisons between them. Talent… that’s something that differentiates them from the others. The great stars, the geniuses of football, they all have something different. They looked different and much more veteran when they were really young”.

“It is important to remember that we are also educators. We can’t put aside the fact that he is 16 years old – he has already turned 17 – that he is a child at heart. When the players went out to eat, he could not accompany them because he is a minor. Someone with responsibility for him had to stay at the hotel and watch what he was doing. There are parental authorizations, but we have a responsibility to society,” he concluded.