De la Fuente: It's 'absurd' to doubt Spain's chances at the World Cup

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente believes his side have silenced critics after Lamine Yamal and Mikel Oyarzabal inspired a thumping 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia. The win puts Spain in a strong position to qualify as Group F winners at Atlanta Stadium on Sunday, with Yamal scoring his first World Cup goal in the 10th minute. Oyarzabal then scored twice in the space of three minutes to put La Roja in control in the first half, before being withdrawn by De la Fuente at the break. Spain still managed to add to the tally through an unlucky own goal from Hassan Al Tambakti four minutes after the break, in response to their shock goalless draw against Cape Verde in their group opener. La Roja remain unbeaten in their last 32 matches in all competitions (23 wins, 9 draws), which is now the second-longest run without a defeat in their history (35, between February 2007 and June 2009). De la Fuente explained that criticism of their draw against Cape Verde was unwarranted, especially for a team that has not lost a competitive match for more than three years. "When someone doubts your work, it is human for anyone with courage and pride to react to prove people wrong," De la Fuente said. "We shouldn't see the criticism as a source of annoyance, but it does encourage people to bring out the best in themselves. My point is that it needs to be seen in perspective. "I find it absurd to doubt a team that hasn't lost 33 games in a row. Doubt this generation? I felt that was unfair." Oyarzabal was one of the players highlighted after his performance against Cape Verde, where he became the first player recorded as having no touches in the first 30 minutes of a World Cup match, but he was the star of this match. With two goals and one assist, Oyarzabal became only the second player on record (since 1966) to register three goal involvements in the first 25 minutes of a World Cup match, after Hungary's Laszlo Fazekas against El Salvador in 1982 (one goal, two assists). He has now been involved in 21 goals in 14 games for Spain since the start of 2025 (14 goals, seven assists), the same tally by a European player in all competitions for their national team during this period, equal to Erling Haaland (21). he has had a huge impact on the national team," added De la Fuente when asked if Oyarzabal was underappreciated. "I wanted to bring up Mikel because he is a player capable of making history for Spanish football." Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia saw their hopes of progressing to the knockout phase hinge on their final game, where they will face Cape Verde, after they drew their opening group game against Uruguay. However, Georgios Donis' side struggled to threaten Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon, with a total expected goals (xG) of just 0.14 from their three attempts in the match. Once again, their defense proved to be a weakness. Saudi Arabia conceded an average of 2.3 goals per game in the World Cup (49 goals in 21 games), the highest figure of any country that has played at least 10 times in the competition Donis. "But we have to be stronger and stop the ball. There's no one reason for what didn't go well for us, but the key was that we weren't strong enough around our box. "Spain scored early at a very good pace, and this affected our morale. After that, we made a lot of mistakes when we had the ball. "When a game is not going well and when you concede three goals quickly, you feel insecure. Obviously, we were affected, but you see that a lot in football. It's just a natural thing.

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