Coach says making sign of the cross before game ‘is not superstition, it’s faith’

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 12, 2024 / 06:00 am

The coach of the Spanish national soccer team, Luis de la Fuente Castillo, surprised viewers by explaining during an interview with Cope, a media outlet of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, that making the sign of the cross before each game begins “is not superstition, it is faith.” 

The former soccer player made the statement about his making the sign of the cross being not a matter of superstition but of faith in response to a question from journalist Helena Condi. 

“I have faith,” said the coach of the team that will play in the Euro Cup final on Sunday after having defeated France earlier this week.

There have been several occasions in which de la Fuente has spoken openly about his faith. During an interview with Spanish newspaper El Mundo, he said that if one does not believe in God, life “would have no meaning.”

“It’s something you have to live, it should have been explained to you. I’m religious because I have decided to be. I come from a religious family, but during my life, I have had many doubts and I have been away from religion,” he said in October 2023.

However, he related that at one point in his life he decided to reach out again and lean on God in everything he does.

“There are not one, but a thousand reasons to believe in God. Without God, nothing in life has meaning,” he stated on that occasion.

Likewise, in an interview with El Periódico, he said that he prays every day and that he has “a good relationship with God.”

“So I ask him, St. Fermin and the Virgin of La Vega to help us, to be close,” he said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.