Some managers inherit a squad; others have spent years shaping the very people who wear the shirt. Luis de la Fuente belongs to the rare second category, and Spain's harmony on the pitch may be the direct result of bonds formed long before this tournament began. The Spain coach celebrated his sixty-fifth birthday during this World Cup, though he jokingly insists he is only fifty-five and looks every bit as youthful as he claims. His rise to the pinnacle of international management was anything but overnight. When he took over the senior national team in December 2022, he had already spent nearly a decade inside the Spanish Football Association, learning how to develop talent rather than simply how to coach established stars. He began with the U-19 side in 2013, graduated to the U-21s and the Olympic team, and only then ascended to the top job. Along the way, he personally oversaw the development of players who now form the spine of Spain's challenge, including Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Mikel Merino, and Unai Simon. Jesus Vallejo, who captained successful youth teams under De la Fuente, once observed that the coach's greatest strength lies in having known many of these footballers since they were fifteen. That familiarity allows him to understand them not merely as athletes but as people, building relationships that stretch far beyond tactics. With Father's Day in the United States falling on the same Sunday, the idea of him as a father figure feels especially fitting. Before the commanding victory over Saudi Arabia, he dismissed any comparison to past Spanish sides, focusing instead on the unity of his current group. The players call it a family, and on current evidence, it is a family that knows exactly how to win together.