The success of Professor Luis de la Fuente and student Lionel Scaloni

Lionel Scaloni, coach of the Argentine national team, will play the Copa América final against Colombia in the early hours of Sunday to Monday at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami (2:00 a.m., peninsular time). A few hours earlier, at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Luis de la Fuente’s Spain will face England for the throne of Europe (9:00 p.m., La1). If the Albiceleste wins in the United States and the Roja in Germany, both teams will meet in the 2025 Final, the tournament that pits the UEFA champion against the Conmebol champion. But the possible final between Argentina and Spain will be much more than a duel between two powers. It will be the reunion between Scaloni and De la Fuente. Between the student and his teacher.

On November 16, 2017, in Las Rozas, the RFEF course to obtain the UEFAPro license, the highest standard for coaching in Europe, began. Scaloni was there sitting at one of the desks, along with other legendary ex-footballers such as Redondo, Valerón, Manuel Pablo, Lopo, Saviola, Leo Franco, Gurpegi, Iraola, Saviola, Craioveanu, Pier Luigi Cherubino, Perea and Julio César. “He was my teacher and he gave a huge hand to those of us who were doing that course in Las Rozas,” Scaloni recalled at this Copa América. “He is a great guy and it is a pleasure to see how he expresses himself and how he handles the group. Spain is doing things very well. Part of my family is Spanish and I want them to do well,” concluded the Albiceleste coach, who, after finishing the course, began his adventure as a coach in 2018. His first challenge, the Argentine national team: third place in the 2019 Copa América, champion of America (2021) and the World Cup (2022).

“He is a true teacher. He is a great player. He has shown exceptional preparation and mastery of his work. He has won everything with the national team and has the chance to repeat the title. I celebrate it because I have great appreciation and a great relationship with him. I appreciate his public words, he is a great coach,” replied De la Fuente, who was Scaloni’s teacher in two subjects: Football Evolution and Team Building. “He taught everything related to tactics. Offensive and defensive principles, game organisation. His classes were very enjoyable, fun. His classes were good, very well prepared and didactic,” says Ginés Meléndez, then director of the National Coaching School. Leo Franco, former goalkeeper for Mallorca, Atlético and Zaragoza, was another of De la Fuente’s students, who, at the time, was the coach of the under-19s. “Luis as a teacher?” says Franco; “he is approachable, natural and convinces people.”

“A few months after finishing the course, I met him in Zaragoza. He came to give a talk. He is a genius, he is always in a good mood. You can see him in the press conferences as well as in the classes. He spoke clearly, he doesn’t make up words and he allows everyone to understand football,” Leo Franco concludes. Pier Luigi Cherubino was also on that course: “The talent he has for explaining things. It was a long, intense course, and the classes with him were dynamic. He spreads a good vibe. You can tell he has been in changing rooms, that he knows the codes,” concludes the former Tenerife player.

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