Luis de la Fuente (footballer, born 1961)

Luis de la Fuente Castillo (born 21 June 1961) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left back, and is the current manager of the Spanish under-21 team.

For other people named Luis de la Fuente, see Luis de la Fuente (disambiguation).
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is De la Fuente and the second or maternal family name is Castillo.
Luis de la Fuente
Personal information
Full name Luis de la Fuente Castillo
Date of birth (1961-06-21) 21 June 1961
Place of birth Haro, Spain
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Left back
Club information
Current team
 Spain U21 (coach)
Youth career
1976–1978 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1982 Bilbao Athletic 59 (3)
1981–1987 Athletic Bilbao 146 (1)
1987–1991 Sevilla 86 (4)
1991–1993 Athletic Bilbao 22 (1)
1993–1994 Alavés 35 (3)
Total 348 (12)
National team
1978–1979 Spain U18 4 (0)
1982–1984 Spain U21 4 (0)
1988 Spain U23 1 (0)
Teams managed
1999–2000 Portugalete
2000–2001 Aurrerá
2006–2007 Bilbao Athletic
2009–2011 Bilbao Athletic
2011 Alavés
2013–2018 Spain U19
2018– Spain U21
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He amassed La Liga totals of 254 matches and six goals over 13 seasons, with Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla.

Playing career

Born in Haro, La Rioja, de la Fuente graduated from Athletic Bilbao's youth system, and made his senior debut with the reserves in 1978, in Segunda División B. On 8 March 1981 he made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–0 away draw against Valencia CF.[1]

De la Fuente was definitely promoted to the main squad in the summer of 1982. He scored his first professional goal on 26 March of the following year, netting the last in a 4–0 home rout of RC Celta de Vigo.[2]

In July 1987, de la Fuente moved to fellow league club Sevilla FC,[3] and continued to appear regularly in the following campaigns. In 1991, he returned to Athletic for a 20 million pesetas fee,[4] but was sparingly used.

De la Fuente joined Deportivo Alavés in 1993, with the side in the third tier. After one full season, he retired at the age of 33.

Coaching career

De la Fuente's first managerial job was at Club Portugalete, in the regional leagues. In summer 2000 he was appointed at Segunda División B club CD Aurrerá de Vitoria,[5] but was sacked in March of the following year.

After a spell back at Sevilla, de la Fuente returned to Athletic. Initially a manager of the reserves,[6] he also acted as match delegate for two years[7] before returning to his previous duties.[8]

On 13 July 2011, de la Fuente was named Alavés coach,[9] being dismissed on 17 October.[10] On 5 May 2013 he was appointed at the helm of the Spain under-19 team,[11] who won the 2015 UEFA European Championship in Greece.[12]

De la Fuente became manager of the under-21 side in July 2018, after Albert Celades resigned.[13] His first competition was the 2019 European Championship in Italy, conquered after the 1–0 final defeat of Germany in Udine.[14]

Honours

Player

Athletic Bilbao

Manager

Spain

References
  1. "0–0: Abdicación valencianista ante el Athletic" [0–0: Valencianista abdication against Athletic]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 9 March 1981. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  2. Castañeda, Eduardo (27 March 1983). "El Athletic, sin problemas" [Athletic, no problems]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  3. Granado, Luis (6 July 1987). "El lateral del Athletic De la Fuente firma hoy contrato por el Sevilla" [Athletic's full back De la Fuente signs contract with Sevilla today]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  4. "El Sevilla traspasa a De la Fuente al Athletic de Bilbao por veinte millones" [Sevilla transfer De la Fuente to Athletic de Bilbao for twenty millions]. ABC (in Spanish). 5 September 1991. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  5. "Una apuesta para dar un salto cualitativo" [A bet to make a jump of quality]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 2 September 2000. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  6. "Luis de la Fuente, new Bilbao Athletic coach". Athletic Bilbao. 8 July 2006. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  7. "Luis de la Fuente, the new delegate". Athletic Bilbao. 16 July 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  8. "Luis de la Fuente ya trabaja con el Bilbao Athletic" [Luis de la Fuente already works with Bilbao Athletic]. El Correo (in Spanish). 8 July 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  9. "Luis de la Fuente retorna al Alavés como entrenador después de 17 años" [Luis de la Fuente returns to Alavés as a manager 17 years later]. Marca (in Spanish). 13 July 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  10. M. Otero, Pablo (16 October 2011). "El Alavés destituye a su técnico Luis de la Fuente" [Alavés sack their manager Luis de la Fuente]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  11. "La Federación Española ficha a Luis De la Fuente, que dirigirá la Sub'19" [The Spanish Federation signs Luis De la Fuente, who will manage the under-19s]. El Correo (in Spanish). 5 May 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  12. "Los campeones Sub-19 ya están en España" [The Under-19 champions are already in Spain]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 20 July 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  13. "OFICIAL: Luis de la Fuente seleccionador sub 21" [OFFICIAL: Luis de la Fuente under-21 manager] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  14. Fisher, Ben (30 June 2019). "Classy Spain sink Germany to lift Euro Under-21 Championship". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
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