GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) \u2014 Spain coach Luis de la Fuente didn\u2019t hide his admiration for Uruguay\u2019s Marcelo Bielsa ahead of the nation\u2019s decisive World Cup match on Friday.<\/p>\n
The game in Guadalajara is one of the most anticipated of the group stage, with European champion Spain and South American powerhouse Uruguay fighting for first place in Group H. Uruguay will likely face elimination if it loses at Guadalajara Stadium.<\/p>\n
De la Fuente said he knows Bielsa well, having spent time watching him train at Athletic Bilbao in the early 2010s. De la Fuente was in the early stages of his coaching career at the time and spent the time with Bielsa just before he took over the helm of Spain\u2019s youth squads.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m an admirer,\u201d De la Fuente said about Bielsa on Thursday. \u201cI\u2019ve followed his career closely. When he was at Athletic, I spent five or six months going every day to watch his training sessions and I learned a lot. I have all his training sessions recorded. He\u2019s been an innovator in many ways. I\u2019ve been lucky enough to have stayed in contact with him and have private conversations about soccer with him. This is the first time we are going to face each other and it\u2019s an honor and a pleasure for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bielsa felt he didn\u2019t influence De la Fuente that much, considering the style of soccer played by Spain.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems to me that, with the type of soccer that he achieved with Spain, which is unique, and his entire work there, which is significant, definitely it doesn’t reflect my own style,\u201d the 70-year-old Argentine coach said. \u201cIt\u2019s a type of soccer a lot more beautiful than what I achieved with my team. The truth is that what he has accomplished with Spain is admirable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 65-year-old De la Fuente said he doesn\u2019t expect to find the same Bielsa that he saw coaching more than a decade ago, acknowledging they all have adapted to the needs of the modern game.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcelo has evolved, like all the coaches,\u201d De la Fuente said. \u201cBack then, he made Athletic play wonderfully well … but he focused on man-to-man marking over the entire field. Now I don\u2019t think he is so strict with that. His approach is based on knowing well the players that he coaches. That\u2019s his greatest strength, because you can\u2019t implement an idea if you don\u2019t have the players to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spain, seeking its second world title, is in good position to advance but only a win will secure first place in the group.<\/p>\n
De la Fuente said he already knows which starting lineup he will use Friday, hinting that the good performance in the 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia on Sunday did \u201cnot invite changes.\u201d Spain opened with a 0-0 draw against Cape Verde.<\/p>\n
He said forwards Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams will likely remain with limited playing time as they returned to the squad later because of injuries.<\/p>\n
Uruguay was held by Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde and now only a win against favorite Spain will secure the team a spot in the next round. A draw or a loss will leave Uruguay\u2019s fate dependent on other results.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be like a final, where you must take every detail into consideration and where the attitude to fight for each meter and each ball will be at its maximum,\u201d Bielsa said.<\/p>\n
See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) \u2014 Spain coach Luis de la Fuente didn\u2019t hide his admiration for Uruguay\u2019s Marcelo Bielsa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[20804,9191,1562,1558,6854,17,3691,20853],"class_list":["post-46330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-marcelo-bielsa","tag-nicholas-williams","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-product-42059-world-cup-text","tag-spain","tag-uruguay","tag-world-cup-luis-de-la-fuente-bielsa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}