EKAITZ SAIES

I planned my trip to the Paddle Games in Copenhagen a couple of months ago without knowing who would be playing in the Football World Cup final. The one thing I knew when I bought my flights was that I wanted to be back home to watch that final with my family.

Yesterday, Spain won that final and became world champions.

A few years ago, I attended a conference organised by the Spanish Olympic Committee and I was introduced to Luis de la Fuente. He had recently signed the contract to become the manager of the Spanish national team.

There was something special about him. He had an interesting aura. A calmness. A presence that made you want to listen. He didn’t need to raise his voice or look for attention. There was something authentic in the way he spoke and carried himself.

Since then, I have really enjoyed watching his press conferences. What has impressed me most is the consistency between what he says and what his team shows on the pitch.

He talks about values. About humility. About generosity. About putting the team before the individual.

And then you watch Spain play, and those words become visible.

At the end of the match, there was one image that stayed with me. Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal were lying on the grass, completely absorbed in the moment. They looked like two children playing in a field: free, happy and satisfied.

That image said a lot.

Because before Luis de la Fuente created a champion team, he created a team of good people.

In many interviews, he has repeated the same idea: when he selects a player, the first thing he looks for is that they are a good person.

Not only a talented player. Not only someone who can score goals, defend or make the difference in a game.

A good person.

For him, being a good person in football means having principles. Being generous. Being supportive. Accepting sacrifice. Understanding that the team is always bigger than the individual.

This is something we often forget in high-performance environments.

We spend countless hours analysing physical qualities, technical skills, tactical understanding and data. We look for marginal gains everywhere. But sometimes we forget the most important foundation: the person.

Talent can win moments.

Character builds teams.

The best teams are rarely just collections of extraordinary individuals. They are groups where people trust each other, where everyone understands their role and where each person is willing to do something for the benefit of others.

Luis de la Fuente inherited an exceptional generation of footballers. But his greatest achievement was not simply selecting talented players. It was creating an environment where those players could become the best version of themselves.

He knew many of them before they became global stars. He had worked with them in the youth national teams. He had seen their development, their personalities and their journeys. When he became the senior national team coach, he was not starting relationships from zero. He was continuing a process built over many years.

That is why his message feels so powerful.

Good people create good teams.

And good teams create the possibility of extraordinary achievements.

The final was a reminder that winning is not only about lifting a trophy. It is about everything that happens before that moment: the relationships, the culture, the trust and the daily work that nobody sees.

At the highest level of sport, the margins are incredibly small. Sometimes the difference between victory and defeat is a decision, a bounce of the ball or a few centimetres.

But behind those moments there is always something bigger: a group of people who believe in each other.

Luis de la Fuente did not only build a team capable of becoming world champions.

He built something even more difficult: a group of people who trusted each other, cared for each other and genuinely enjoyed sharing the journey.

Because, in the end, trophies are the consequence.

The real work happens long before the final whistle — in the relationships, in the values, in the daily habits and in the belief that the person next to you matters.

Maybe that is why, after winning the biggest prize in football, two of Spain’s youngest players were not celebrating like superstars.

They were simply two kids lying on the grass, smiling, enjoying the moment.

A team of good people becoming world champions.