Were those three really the best teams in Europe in each of those years? That is debatable, but that's the nature of knockout tournament football.
One of the keys to their success is the fact that, to an unusual degree in international football, Spain are a team.In fact, his CV is more like that of a Brian Kerr or Stephen Kenny. He's mostly worked with smaller clubs in lower leagues and at underage level. De la Fuente was able to add a special ingredient to a tried and tested mix - young wingers Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal.
Instead, we saw the value of being a real team. When Spain were up against it, especially after Cole Palmer's stunning equaliser, they dug deep, showed their character and de la Fuente earned his corn too. This is a golden generation, we keep being told, and the last time that term was used was with the team of 20 years ago.