Luis de la Fuente calls Spain the finest team in the world following their victory over Italy.

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente believes his team are "the best in the world" after leading them to the final 16 of Euro 2024 with one game to spare.

De La Fuente's side advanced to the knockout stage after a 1-0 victory over reigning champions Italy in Gelsenkirchen on Thursday evening, before complimenting his players.

When asked if it was the best performance he has presided over during his post-match press conference, he replied, "Yes, I believe it is the best Spain performance I've taken command of. We played well against Italy in the Nations League, but I believe tonight's performance was more competitive.

I believe the Spanish players are the finest in the world.

Luis de la Fuente, Spain's leader

"As I indicated yesterday, I will never tire of actively promoting Spanish football. I believe we are the finest in the world at assessing various match scenarios, and winning silverware only reinforces and strengthens that belief.

"But it's vital to highlight the quality of this generation of players, the ones who have actually made it into this group. "I believe Spanish players are the best in the world."

Spain won thanks to Riccardo Calafiori's 55th-minute own goal, but if it hadn't been for Italy's outstanding goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and the woodwork, they could have won much more handily.

De La Fuente argues that he and his players must remain grounded, but he believes there is no better squad in the tournament.

He said: "I'm very proud of the result, and I'm very proud to be coaching a great team in the European Championship, but I'm also very satisfied of how we won this match.

"I'm also aware that it's a really difficult event, and as we progress through the competition, our opponents will learn to know us.

"Our opponents will get more challenging in the knockout rounds. We know there are a lot of strong teams in this competition, but we must keep these feelings in mind.

"As I said, no team is better than us - I still am of that opinion, but we need to keep working hard and keep playing as we have done thus far, so we need to improve, we need to keep our feet on the ground and never let our guard down."

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