Santi Denia: "I've only heard 'Oh' once on a pitch, and it was with Lamine in the U-15s."

At Paris 2024, the women's team was expected to win gold, but it was Santi Denia 's (Albacete, 1974) team that secured it after defeating the host nation in the final. However, even beyond that success, the La Mancha native is eager to win the U-21 European Championship, which starts today for Spain, and become, with six titles, the most successful team in history.

How do you stay hungry after the Games?

It's another challenge for us because the Games are a different competition. We reached the final at the previous European Championships, and that's still a thorn in our side.

Is it difficult to reconstruct each quote?

We would have liked to continue with those who qualified, but we're victims of the schedule due to a Club World Cup that doesn't require players to be released. On the other hand, we're delighted that so many U-21 players are with Luis. That's our job.

There is a lot of precocity today.

It's good, and we're not hesitant to move things forward. If a player at 18 is ready to go to the senior team, we'll take the step up. Players come already trained from the youth teams. If they earn it, they'll have the reward.

Is it easier to work with young people?

They come in very prepared. You talk to them about anything related to understanding the game, and you know they're familiar with it. Now, our job as coaches is to get them on the same page, because everyone plays differently. We have to convince them of the way we play and that our goals are achieved by being a team.

If you win, you will win the sixth European Under-21 Championship.

That's the challenge. We came very close in Romania. In these days of preparation, we'll try to build cohesion among the group, to become friends and work like a family.

Will the press give it the due?

I don't think about that; I'll leave the impact in your hands. I'd be delighted if Mosquera, Torre, or Guerra were on the cover; that would be a sign.

Give me the name of a player who has impressed you.

I have a lot of affection for the entire generation of the 2000s, with Abel Ruiz, Sergio Gómez... But it's true that it's only happened to me on one pitch, with the U-15s, that the crowd said: 'Oh!' And that was with Lamine Yamal in a match against Switzerland.

And how do you deal with that TikTok generation?

I don't have social media, and I don't know what they do. Everything has changed a lot since I started. But it's important to have those rules with us, and also their spaces.

What was a locker room like in the past?

It's not the same at all. There was no motivation, and that changed everything. There are several things in common, and that's trying to build a team. When I stay in the First Division with Albacete or achieve the double with Atleti, it's because we have a good team. People often think that winning and building a good team, but I think it's the other way around.

Do you have the same joys as a coach as you do as a player?

It's different. As a player, you normally think about yourself, and as a coach, you're thinking about managing the group, trying to send a message of unity, of family, that we're going to be together for 30 days and there are going to be difficulties.

Has it always been clear to you that you would move to the bench?

In my last years as a player, I was on the bench (laughs), so you start asking the coaches the reason for each task or situation, and you start to like it. But until you start training with the younger players, you don't really know. However, I've had a ball with me for as long as I can remember; this has been my life.

Do you miss the smell of grass?

It's a phrase I use a lot. We players never forget that smell of grass, and now as a coach, you smell it when you step onto the field and think about the task, the conversation...

And coach a club?

I'm happy here. I've been here for 15 years, and I like it because the level of Spanish players is very high. But it's also true that cycles... from what I've seen with Milla, Lopetegui... Luis De la Fuente has been here for four years, the longest, I think. I'm going for my third; I'm at the limit. So you think about it.

Do you work less?

There's a lot of work here. You don't have the management of the group and you miss it, but the follow-up, the trips... There have been years when I've been away from home for between 190 and 200 days.

"I'm very 'cholista'"

Would you repeat at Atlético?

We've got Cholo for a while. I'm a big fan of Cholo because of the progress he's made with an organization he's given, since he arrived, the tools to grow. And then the club is also working with Torres in case something happens, Gabi... there are many coaches who can do well, although it would be a dream, just like Albacete.

Are you still playing football?

I've gone to padel. I'm afraid of playing soccer. I sometimes go rondo because of the smell of the grass, but then your hip, ankle, everything starts to hurt. I'm more of a walker and I'll do 10-12 kilometers.

What do you ask of football?

Winning gold at the European Championships.

And to life?

Health. At my age, with my parents already gone... That's the main thing. We'll find the work.