Luis de la Fuente: “My experiences invite me to believe in God”

The Spanish national football team has won the Euro 2024 after beating England 2-1 in the final game, with goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal.

This is the fourth European Championship won by the Spanish team, twelve years after their last title.

Although some footballers had already spoken publicly about their faith in Jesus Christ at this year’s European championship in Germany, it was clear to some evangelical fans of the sport that it is still an unfinished business to hear about Christian testimonies in the elite of continental football.

One of the surprises, however, was Spain’s manager Luis de la Fuente. Although he was already known as a practising Catholic, with a famous image sitting on one of the benches of the Basilica Menor del Santísimo Cristo de la Expiación in the Triana district of Seville, De la Fuente spoke of his faith at a press conference just before the final against England.

“Where is God and faith when there is a final and you need absolutely everything to win?”, a journalist asked de la Fuente. In his reply, the manager said his faith “is personal”. “I am free and I can choose what I have to do, and both my experience and my intelligence invite me to believe in God”, he said.

“God gives me security and strength”, emphasised De la Fuente, who rejects the idea of superstition and says he “prays” every day.

“I'm not superstitious at all. I pray every day. I don't wear a yellow shirt on the day I win. If I pray today and tomorrow, it’s because I’ve been doing it for a long time”, he added.

During the press conference prior to the final that ended with his first title at the helm of the national team, de la Fuente insisted on the idea of faith in God as a personal matter but one that takes place in the public sphere. “Faith is something personal and transferable”, he concluded.