LOS ANGELES : Spain coach Luis de la Fuente believes Belgium will provide his side’s toughest challenge of the FIFA World Cup so far when the teams meet in Friday’s quarter-final.
Spain have reached the last eight without conceding a goal and strengthened their status as one of the tournament favourites with a 1-0 victory over Portugal in the round of 16.
“Tomorrow’s game will be the hardest that we’ve faced to this point,” De la Fuente told reporters on Thursday.
“Belgium is a very powerful team. These are players who are used to winning. It’s going to be a challenging match.”
The winners of the quarter-final in Los Angeles will face France in Tuesday’s semi-final in Dallas after Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele scored in a 2-0 victory over Morocco.
Although he watched France’s win and felt Didier Deschamps’ side deserved their victory, De la Fuente said Spain’s full attention remained on Belgium.
“Trust me, we are only thinking about Belgium tomorrow,” he said.
Spain have impressed at both ends of the pitch, combining a watertight defence with an attack led by 18-year-old Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal and Mikel Oyarzabal, who has scored four goals during the tournament.
Yamal has found the net once at the World Cup, trailing leading scorers Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, who have eight goals each, but De la Fuente praised the teenager’s growing maturity.
He pointed to Yamal’s defensive work in Spain’s victory over Portugal and backed him to make an impact in attack when it mattered most.
“He’s going to perform on the attacking front,” De la Fuente said.
The Spain coach added that his team’s progress had been built on collective effort rather than individual brilliance.
“What is bad for the hive is also bad for the bee,” De la Fuente said, quoting a saying attributed to the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius.
