There is a major new name in the mix for the U.S. men’s national team head coaching position.
On Sunday, the day he led Spain to the Euro 2024 title, Luis de la Fuente’s representatives confirmed to the Washington Post they had reached out to U.S. Soccer to express interest in the USMNT job.
The 63-year-old’s stock is at an all-time high after guiding Spain through Euro 2024 with seven wins from seven matches, culminating in a 2-1 victory over England in Sunday’s final in Berlin.
La Roja also registered wins over Croatia, Italy, Germany and France en route to the title, its record fourth men’s European championship.
The USMNT position has been vacant since Gregg Berhalter was dismissed last week in the wake of the team’s stunning group-stage exit at the Copa América.
Several names have already been mentioned as potential replacements, with Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy and LAFC boss Steve Cherundolo both indicating they may be interested when recently quizzed on the job.
De la Fuente has been a coach in Spain’s national team setup since 2013, taking charge of the under-19 and under-21 teams before coaching the under-23 team at the Olympics in 2021. He was named senior national team coach in 2022, and just signed a contract extension through 2026 last month.
If the Spain boss is truly interested, he would seemingly be near the top of the list of candidates. But it is worth considering just how real De la Fuente’s interest truly is.
On the CBS Sports Golazo Network, Spanish journalist Guillem Balague speculated on Monday that De la Fuente may be looking to use U.S. Soccer as leverage to push the Spanish federation to offer him a larger contract.
According to Balague, however, there is another Spanish coach who may have more concrete interest: former Liverpool and Real Madrid boss Rafael Benítez.
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