Luis de la Fuente, coach of the Spanish national football team, said it plainly: “Without God, nothing in life makes sense”. It is not an offhand remark or a locker-room outburst. It is the conviction he has carried since he was a child in Haro, La Rioja, where he grew up devoted to the Virgin of the Vega, patron saint of his hometown.
What is striking is what he does with that faith. He prays every day, yes, but not to ask for his team to win. He says it would be unfair to help one side and not the other. He prays to give thanks, like someone ending the day grateful for what they had, whether they win or lose the next day.
That is why, when you see him make the sign of the cross before a match, he is not asking for a favor. He is remembering where he comes from. In a world where football is measured only in results, De la Fuente built his success on something that does not depend on the score.