Hierro backs Spanish successors
Friday, May 16, 2008
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RFEF sporting director and Spain legend Fernando Hierro will be cheering Spain on in tonight's U17 final and paid tribute to the team and Juan Santisteban.
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Delight
Fernando Hierro, the former captain of both Real Madrid CF and his nation and one of the great defenders of his time, became sporting director of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) last autumn. He is out in the Turkish city of Antalya supporting the reigning U17 champions, arriving in time to see them defeat the Netherlands 2-1 in Tuesday's semi-finals, and is pleased by their run. "We are happy with how they played and very satisfied with their performance," Hierro told uefa.com. "The U17 final is very important for the Spanish team. We are delighted the results the players and coach have achieved."
Santisteban feat
Hierro won three European titles with Madrid, and a member of the 1950s side that began the club's tradition in continental competition, Juan Santisteban, is coaching Spain here. In charge for two decades, the U17 title last year added to Santisteban's four in the former U16 Championship and he went on to take lead Spain to the U19 crown in July 2007 for good measure.
'Soul of football'
"Juan is the soul of football," Hierro said. "He has been with the RFEF for a long time. Spanish football is proud of him, the RFEF is proud of him and UEFA is proud of him, he is something special. He has spent his entire life in football and he and his professionalism have been part of Spanish football for a long time and we are very proud of this. We're very happy he has been with us for so long and that we were able to work with him."
Major honours
Missing from Hierro's collection of honours were the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship, and it has been a cause of concern that Spain have won so many youth titles and produced such a large number of talented players yet took their only major senior title in 1964. Hierro, among those charged with changing that fact, said: "It is very difficult to translate youth success into senior honours, but what is very important for me is that the youth players work hard because it will be rewarded one day. Spain is a big country but we need one big victory, and when it happens it will be like a weight off our shoulders. We have won everything at youth level and achieved a lot, and it's true we are always among the favourites for the major senior tournaments but never quite seem to win."
