Luis de la Fuente has defended David Raya amid ongoing debate over Spain’s first-choice goalkeeper ahead of this summer’s World Cup.
La Roja boast a strong pool of options ahead of the tournament, with Raya competing alongside Unai Simon, Joan Garcia and Alex Remiro for the starting role.
Simon, Spain’s number one during their Euro 2024 triumph, played the full 90 minutes in Friday’s 3-0 friendly win over Serbia, while Raya and Remiro remained unused substitutes.
Despite that, De la Fuente insisted he has full confidence in all of his goalkeepers and questioned why Raya is not more prominently discussed.
“I can’t clear up any doubts for you. The best news is that I have no doubts at all. I have complete confidence in them. There’s something special about them,” he said.
“The best news is seeing that all four goalkeepers, regardless of who was left out, embraced each other and are encouraging one another.
“Unai Simon is Unai Simon, Raya is a fantastic goalkeeper, and Alex Remiro is just as good.
“We’ll see what happens between now and Tuesday, but I have no doubts. My only regret is leaving one out. Let’s wait and see, don’t be in such a hurry, and enjoy not only these four goalkeepers but also some of the others we have.”
Minutes on the cards for Raya
Spain face Egypt in their next friendly, though De la Fuente declined to confirm whether Raya, Remiro or Garcia will be given an opportunity to impress.
When pressed on whether Simon’s selection reinforced his status as number one, De la Fuente was clear in his stance.
“I don’t have to reaffirm Unai’s place.
“It would be unfair if we didn’t value Unai’s quality, class, career, and professional experience. It would be absurd for me to have to come here and reaffirm it, just because he’s Unai Simon. When a goalkeeper is at this level, you have to respect his standing and his career.
“Besides, we have David Raya, who I’m eager for you to ask me about. In England, they consider him the best goalkeeper in the world, and here nobody talks about him.
“The same goes for Joan Garcia and Alex Remiro, let’s be fair. But Unai Simon is indisputable. The others have a lot of talent and class, but everything in its own time.
“We haven’t changed the goalkeepers because we understand that they are special positions and need to be treated differently, but I insist that we have three other impressive goalkeepers besides Unai.”
