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Luis de la Fuente is one game away from making Spain the champions of Europe again, and it would complete some journey for the unassuming boss. The 63-year-old, born in the small town of Haro, south of Bilbao, could be about to become a national hero. La Roja take on Gareth Southgate’s England, live on talkSPORT, this Sunday in Berlin for the right to become Euro 2024 champions.Best porn XXX. Should De la Fuente come out on top, he would go down in Spanish folklore. This is a man who was born in the Basque country to a relatively modest family, where his beloved Athletic Bilbao became a release. He joined the club’s academy and progressed through the ranks before making his first-team debut in 1981. De la Fuente spent his career as a left-back and joined Sevilla in 1987 before retiring in 1993. Overall, he enjoyed a solid if unspectacular career and was never capped by Spain at senior level. However, De la Fuente left a far more everlasting legacy when his love for football took him into coaching. His career in the dugout started with Spanish minnows Portugalete, where he remained for three years before joining another youth team in Aurrera. De la Fuente worked in Sevilla’s academy as their Under-19s manager where he spotted and then promoted a teenage Sergio Ramos from three age groups below him due to his abilities. The rest is history as Ramos went on to become one of the greatest defenders we’ve ever seen and Spain’s most-capped player. Of course, it was to be a cruel irony that two decades later, De la Fuente was the man to bring the curtain down on his former protegee’s international career in 2023 at the age of 36. Thankfully, not all the footballing legends De la Fuente has mentored have ended with a cloud over their journey together. Having the previous two seasons at the Bilbao set-up, the retired defender managed just 11 games with Alaves in the Segunda B third tier in 2011. It proved to be his last experience in club football and caused a two-year hiatus from the game before he was thrown a lifeline from the Spanish FA to be the country’s under-19 manager. As part of his role with the federation, De la Fuente helped educate coaches with one notable alumni being Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola. Another of the same 2017 group included Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni, who famously helped Lionel Messi ‘close the circle’ and complete football by winning the World Cup five years later. “Professor Luis de la Fuente was my teacher when I took my coaching courses,” Scaloni told The Athletic. “Luis helped all of us young guys who took that course. “He’s a great guy, I enjoy how he expresses himself, how he handles himself, how his players are devoted to him.” In the dugout, De la Fuente steered a team including Rodri, Mikel Merino and Marco Asensio to the Under-19 European Championship title in 2015. Fast forward four years and he’d overseen Dani Olmo, Mikel Oyarzabal and Unai Simon’s triumph in the 2019 Under-21 Euros. La Roja through and through, De la Fuente told AS last year: “Super proud to be Spanish, Catholic and a bullfighting fan. “I am more than proud, very proud to be everything they say. And since I am free, I choose what I like, with all due respect for others.” That made De la Fuente a popular choice as the obvious successor to the senior side once Luis Enrique was dispensed with. He was appointed La Roja’s boss in January 2023, and within months, he’d won the Nations League. Preparation for the biggest game of his career against England has not come lightly, with De la Fuente lifting the lid on his intense schedule that has Spain the team to beat at Euro 2024. “We’ve very little free time,” De la Fuente told radio station Cope last week.“I get up early, I have my routines, my workout. “From 9am we are operating until 1, 2, 3 or 4am. So I don’t sleep much — some days three hours, others four, others five. I can have a nap after eating, but not much.” Ironically, his Spain side were one of the most slept-on in terms of the leading European nations heading into the tournament in Germany. Now he’s one win away from winning the trophy most neutrals believe they deserve – which would warrant a nice lie-down… talkSPORT will bring you live commentary of the Euro 2024 final on Sunday as England bid to make history against Spain. Tune in via the website or the app, and follow our live Euro 2024 blog for all the build-up. This service is provided on talkSPORT Ltd’s Terms of Use in accordance with our Privacy Policy.