De la Fuente regrets 'clear' penalty in goalless draw with Serbia

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente admitted that they lacked the "finishing accuracy" in Belgrade to beat Serbia, whose defensive strength he highlighted, and lamented a late challenge in which Joselu Mato was grabbed inside the box.

"I have to watch it on television, but on the pitch it seemed to me to be a very clear penalty and for Joselu, in his opinion, it was also a penalty. It was a play that would have changed the outcome of the game, but nothing happens," he lamented at the press conference.

"As an analysis, in the first half we were not accurate, we lacked accuracy. Especially in finishing moves, we lacked quality in the final pass. We managed to do it in the second half, but we lacked the finishing accuracy and that freshness that is noticeable at this stage of the season", he analysed.

De la Fuente highlighted the high temperature in which the match was played and the state of the pitch. "It was very hot, the pitch was slow and dry, but I'm very calm. The team gives everything, we have a lot of quality and as they get into the rhythm of competition at their clubs their performance will improve".

He blamed Spain for the form of his players who have barely had a chance to complete a pre-season and have returned straight back to competition in August.

"At this stage of the season, there are players who participate more and others less, in October when they have accumulated more games we will talk about other things. In September there is a lack of rhythm, it's harder to recover. It's a complicated time. We have to value Serbia, who, defensively, had a lot of energy and we lacked accuracy," he said.

"It's a game that we could almost call a pre-season match. We are in the preparation phase although it was important as it was an official match. We all demand a lot of ourselves, even more after being European champions, but this is a long process and we have to take it step by step. We don't give more importance to a draw," he said.

 

September 5, 2024