Pol Ballús and Guillermo Rai for The Atheltic interviewing Spain manager Luis de la Fuente:

“When I select players, I don’t just look at the footballer. I look at the person. I’ve known some of our players for 15 years, and if they are here it is because they fit into our philosophy of turning this into a family. If you don’t fit into this, you’re out.

“I can tell you, people do not know the real Lamine Yamal. He is a fantastic team player. A diligent team-mate and a guy who makes living around him extremely easy.

“People talking about his ego? I don’t understand the negative connotation of the word ‘ego’. We all have an ego. As long as you put that ambition into the team’s collective goal, ego is a spectacular thing to have. Everybody in this team has that collective mindset.

“This is the true secret: to select the right profile of a player to then create a family. At Euro 2024, you could see Jesus Navas, who was 38, playing video games and having a laugh with Lamine. Now, Oyarzabal (29) is a player who Yamal really listens to and looks up to.”

Football is less about tactics and more about people.