Spain need Euro 2024 to escape cloud cast by Luis Rubiales

Mention the name Vicente del Bosque to anyone of a Spanish persuasion and it will likely elicit warm memories of that golden era when La Roja won the World Cup in 2010 and, two years later, became the first and still only country to retain the European Championship.

But the presence of Del Bosque in Germany is not solely a reminder of the shadow of past glories from which a promising new generation of Spain players are hoping to emerge.

Del Bosque was appointed as the public face of a new special committee set up by the Spanish government barely a fortnight ago to address the ongoing issues within the country’s scandal-hit football federation, the RFEF, in the wake of the Luis Rubiales affair.

With a corruption investigation under way, the fallout from the unsolicited kiss the former RFEF president gave Jenni Hermoso during Spain Women’s World Cup victory celebrations last August continues so anything that can have a unifying effect will be welcomed amid the fight for institutional reforms.

If Spain have needed a clean slate off the pitch, the same could be said on it, not least after a disappointing showing at the World Cup in Qatar 18 months ago when Luis Enrique’s side passed and passed and passed some more but were crippled by a lack of penetration and cutting edge en route to a last-16 exit to Morocco.

Luis de la Fuente, who had won the Euros with Spain’s Under-19s in 2015 and Under-21s four years later, may not have appeared an obvious choice to succeed Enrique and was himself surprised by the appointment.

But there was plenty of logic to promoting a man who had worked previously with so many of the players on whose shoulders Spain’s hopes in Germany now rest. Barcelona’s 21-year-old midfielder Pedri, available again after a horrible time with injury, Mikel Oyarzabal, Fabian Ruiz, Mikel Merino, Marco Asensio and Dani Olmo all played under Spain’s new manager as they rose through the youth ranks so perhaps it is no surprise the 62-year-old is creating a club-like atmosphere among a talented mix of youth and experience.

The success of Del Bosque was in part getting Spain’s Barcelona and Real Madrid contingent to leave their club rivalries at home and De la Fuente, while not having quite the same egos to manage, clearly shares the same view.

No one embodies Spain’s brave new world quite like Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s prodigiously gifted winger in the Riyad Mahrez mould who is set to become the youngest player in Euros history.

Spain kick off their bid to win an unprecedented fourth Euro crown against Croatia in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on Saturday hoping to be back here for the final on July 14 – the day after Yamal is due to turn 17. Along with his Barcelona team-mate Pedri and another 21-year-old, Athletic Bilbao’s turbo-charged winger Nico Williams, Spain boast some of the tournament’s brightest young talents.

If they can flourish alongside more experienced heads like Manchester City’s midfield metronome Rodri and captain Alvaro Morata, a striker who divides opinion like few others, the Class of 2024 may yet follow in the footsteps of the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets. Not that they will have it easy. Croatia aside, the reigning European champions Italy and a highly motivated Albania make up a forbidding Group B.

As opponents go, Luka Modric is probably uniquely placed to comment on both generations having tussled with both for Real Madrid and Croatia for longer than he cares to remember and likes what he sees from the current crop of Spanish stars.

“I don’t like to compare different generations of players - those Spain teams [from 2008 to 2012] was a special generation of players, one of the best in the history of Spain,” said Modric. “This generation is very good, full of young talent with a good mix of youth and experience, and some experienced players used to playing in these tournaments. It’s a very good team, very talented, very fast, especially on the wings.”

Now 38, Modric has 22 years on Yamal. “When I hear these things, I feel really old,” he said, laughing.

Spain will hope they make Modric and an ageing Croatia look like it, too. There are, after all, several shadows to lift.