Many Spanish players have spoken out in the Iberian media in recent hours about their upcoming duel against France, and the Spaniards are fully embracing their new status as favorites.
As we know, the label of favorite can weigh heavily on players’ shoulders during a major tournament. This partly explains the rather premature elimination of Germany and the poor performances of countries like France or England, who were the two main contenders to win the Euros before the competition began.
Perhaps this is also why Spain, initially not seen as so formidable, is now displaying such a high level of play. Without pressure and without real expectations, Luis de la Fuente’s squad plays with freedom and delights fans. Often, teams prefer not to position themselves as favorites and instead put pressure on their rivals. However, since the start of this Euros, Spain has had no problem embracing the role of a top contender for the title.
In recent hours, many members of the Spanish delegation have expressed confidence in the media ahead of facing France, refusing to position themselves as underdogs. “We have confidence in what we are, and this confidence has helped us against Germany, Croatia, Italy… I am calm. We can beat anyone, and we have incredible potential,” said quarter-final hero Mikel Merino, though he emphasized the need to “be humble” and acknowledged that “France will make things difficult.”
Spain aims to dominate France. “France is a very physical team but also has players of great quality. In this Euros, they may show a more defensive face, but they know how to play. They can pin you down in your own area for long periods, which is what we want to avoid,” explained Nacho, who then revealed their strategy to hurt the French: “Our idea is to have control and hurt them with the ball, as we did against other teams. By attacking.” Clearly, Spain intends to dominate Les Bleus.
“If we stay focused and recover the ball quickly, we have a great chance of winning,” added Marc Cucurella, the left-back who is having a brilliant Euros. “To win the Euros? Well, yes, there’s not much left. One step, but we still have to take it. It’s not easy, France awaits us, which is always challenging, but yes, let’s go. Yes, we had just won the Nations League, we had a very good momentum, very good matches, good feelings, and we knew we had a team and a group to go far. That’s how it went, we’re in the semi-finals, but we want more,” explained Dani Olmo yesterday, very optimistic and openly stating his goal of going all the way. The message is clear…
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