That pendant on his wrist had intrigued journalists in the auditorium of the Caixaforum in Zaragoza, last May 4, on the eve of these football World Cup: a Marian symbol, as he himself had confided: “I always wear it in matches against Spain.” And now that he has won the World Cup, coach Luis de la Fuente will keep his promise to personally light a candle of thanks to the Virgen de la VegaPatron Saint of Haro, her hometown. What his most trusted friends did, as per tradition, for him during the long distance for the tournament hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, even the day before the final played in New York on July 19th.
De la Fuente has made it clear several times that he does not believe it is right to hide his Catholic faith, a fundamental part of his life, and who feels, indeed, the need to bear witness to it. Which he also did during this World Cup. He declared in front of the cameras, after the match: «I pray every day, but not because I’m at the World Cup, or because I’m trying to get a result. I thank God daily because I wake up and feel good. I look at myself and say, “Another day where I can enjoy life.” I thank you for these little things. And I don’t pray for Him to help me. It would be unfair to ask him to help me and not help his opponent. I also ask for other things, especially health, and, for the rest, to give me the chance to continue fighting. This is what I want. If you have health, you have no problem fighting. I am a warrior and I fight against everything, but without my health I couldn’t do it.”
(REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach)
And, always on the pendant of Virgen del Pilarwho follows him everywhere, added: «Since I’m a bit vain, I have them in various colors, to match the clothes», thus accompanying, with the usual self-irony, the long applause from the press room.
For the decisive match of the tournament, he chose the blue one, somewhat in harmony with the blue jacket, but also because it is the color of Maria’s cloak, as if to place himself, once again, under her protection.
The sign of the cross before every game? Luis explained: “It’s not superstition, but a natural expression of my beliefs and values.” At the top of his devotions, together with Our Lady of the Pilar, are the Christ of the Atonement, known as El Cachorrovenerated in Seville, and the Virgen de la VegaQueen of Haro. One of his oldest friends, Justo Montoya, revealed: «The day before each match, I go to the Virgin of Vega to light some candles. I pray and then I send the video to Luis, with a message like: “Well Luis, here we go again, let’s continue the tradition. You’re almost there, champion””. And the coach received other text messages of the same nature. Before Spain-France and the victory that paved the way for the Iberian national team to the final against Argentina, the candles lit in his honor increased significantly. Not to mention the intensification on the eve of the last match.
For him to clearly express his Catholic beliefs and his constant need for prayer is “an act of freedom” which he would not give up for anything in the world. «It’s something that gives me a lot of strength, a lot of confidence», he explained, “and it made me the person I am.” By a curious coincidence, de la Fuente was one of the teachers of the Argentina coach, Lionel Scaloni, Spain’s rival in this World Cup, at the Escuela Nacional de Entrenadores, near Madrid, the “Iberian Coverciano”. And the two coaches are also united by the Marian impetus.
“There is not one, but a thousand reasons to believe,” declared the Spanish coach in January one year ago. «Without God nothing makes sense. Now I ask Him, Saint Firmin (Iberian bishop and martyr, ed.) and the Virgen de la Vega to help us, to stay close to us.”
The gesture of lighting candles even from a distance is certainly not superstition, but a true act of love and trust towards the powerful intercession of the Heavenly Mother. The parish priest of the basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Vegain Haro, Don Javier Larrocha, revealed: «Luis has always expressed his devotion and affection for our Madonna and, like all jarreros, his fellow citizens, he comes here to ask her for the things he needs».
(REUTERS/Ana Beltran)
His pilgrimage to the Seville basilica of Cachorro in October 2023, in the midst of the qualifications for the European Championships, even those won by the “red furies”, is also known. On that occasion he also made a plea to Mary, in front of the statue of the Virgen del Patrocinio kept in the same temple.
After the victory at the European Championships in Germany in 2024, several Spanish Bishops also complimented Luis on social media for the faith he expressed publicly. Among these prelates, the archbishop of Seville, José Ángel Saiz Meneses, and the bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, José Ignacio Munilla, who posted online about de la Fuente’s Catholic ardor: «How can we not remember those words of Jesus? “Whoever, therefore, recognizes me before men, I will also recognize him before my Father who is in Heaven”». And even after this triumphant world championship, the message arrived from an authoritative prelate, Monsignor Ginés Ramón García Beltrán, bishop of Getafe, a diocese south of Madrid, who praised the coach of the Spanish national team for having publicly supported that testifying to one’s beliefs is a “use of freedom”. And so is the fact that he confided that he had gone through moments of doubt and even drifted away from the faith, but that he returned to it to find meaning. “This is what many people experience,” Beltrán said. “There are many people who recognize themselves in him” and the need to find answers in the Beyond is stronger than ever, as seen during the recent visit of Leo XIV.
Curiously, at the interviewer’s request, the prelate had also made his prediction for the final, predicting the victory of the “red furies”, but getting the result wrong: 2-1 instead of 1-0 straight, after extra time.
But if de la Fuente’s Catholic fervor and Marian devotion were known, the recently concluded World Cup also brought to light the weakness for Virgo of the key man of the final, the goalscorer Ferrán Torres. A few days before the decisive match, the center forward confided: «I always carry with me a cross and a medal of the Virgin Mary. And for me it is a very important thing.” The latter bears the effigy of the Virgen de los Desamparados, Patroness of the Valencian community, in whose territory the new world champion was born, who scored the decisive goal to win the trophy. The joy of the Spanish fans, for this second world trophy won by their national team, which will be worth the double star on the shirt, was uncontainable. Many have loudly asked that the cup won at the New Jersey Stadium in New York now be brought before the Virgen de la Almudena in the cathedral of Madrid, as a sign of thanks to the Heavenly Mother. Certainly, de la Fuente, for his part, would do so without hesitation.
