​Affable and well-mannered at 65, Luis de la Fuente is not given to embellishment. In need of another moment of stadium magic, he brought out his ace in the pack during a tense moment in the greenhouse-like atmosphere of a Los Angeles arena. Two minutes later, Mikel Merino delivered yet another late, decisive showing, his substitute timing giving Spain the edge as they overcome Belgium’s stubborn resistance. It would be a mistake to assume that De la Fuente’s guidance for the midfielder was nothing more than awe-inspiring rhetoric. “The truth is… he told me very little,” Merino admitted after his 88th-minute, quarter-final winner on Friday, a moment witnessed by his two-month-old son Marco. “He [De la Fuente] said something about being a number 10. And then, when the match ended, he told me I was incredible—that was the extent of his comments to me.”
Merino has a knack for scoring crucial goals for his country; he found the net to seal the quarter-final victory over Germany at Euro 2024. A year later, he was on the scoresheet in the mesmerizing 5-4 Nations League win against France, and he also netted the deciding goal against Portugal last Monday. His continued impact underscores Spain’s vast reservoir of midfield talent—Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Dani Olmo, and Pedri all started ahead of Merino on Friday—yet the Arsenal man takes his place in the squad with patience and without complaint, fully accepting his role.
Mikel Merino even as the late hero emerged, Spain looked far from their peak in Inglewood. “We didn’t play very well, but hey, we were right there with them and we held up well,” said 19-year-old standout Lamine Yamal, who celebrates his birthday on Monday. “If we had kept the ball a little better, we would have created a lot more and been more dangerous.”
And so the focus shifts to Tuesday’s semi-final, set in the 90,000-capacity, air-conditioned stadium in Dallas, where Spain will face France. The nations are widely regarded as the two strongest teams in the tournament, and their current prowess is a direct reflection of the powerhouse status that Argentina enjoys—both through their 2024 Copa America triumph and their World Cup qualifying success—placing them in the same half of the draw. The clash feels seismic; the winner is seen as almost certain to be the favorite in the final on July 19.
Momentum, firepower, and Kylian Mbappe’s electrifying form have the bookies leaning toward France. “I think reaching the World Cup semi-finals, everyone was waiting for this match,” Yamal observed. “We were really looking forward to it arriving. For me, they are the two best national teams in the World Cup, but we have no fear. I think if anyone can enter a match against France with confidence, it’s us.” He added that he expects a team that presses high but won’t sustain it for the entire match. “There is no national team that is going to play us man-to-man across the whole pitch. But we know France has players of great quality,” he said, underscoring Spain’s belief that they can match France’s quality while maintaining tactical discipline.
The semi-final loom looms large, with the prospect of another showdown that would magnify Spain’s depth and resilience. As Merino’s late intervention hinted at, the squad has the capacity to adapt and rise at critical moments, even when the performance level isn’t at its best. De la Fuente’s approach—quietly effective, understated, and rooted in pragmatism—continues to yield results, as Spain’s journey through the tournament presses forward toward a possible final, a stage that could crown their season if they can translate moments of brilliance into sustained excellence.
In the end, Sunday’s atmosphere—whether in Dallas or the next venue—will be charged with the same questions: Can Spain harness their depth and time their runs to peak at the right moments? Will Merino’s timely contributions continue to punctuate their campaign, or will the collective force of France demand a different strategic screen? Either way, the narrative remains rich: a Spain side built on depth, patience, and an unassuming leadership that quietly orchestrates performances when they matter most, even if the wisdom shared by their coach isn’t always loud or flamboyant.