Milla's Spain ready to take final step

After guiding Spain to the final of the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in July, Luis Milla now has set his sights on doing the same at next year's U21 tournament in Denmark. Milla took up his current role in August and has already achieved his first goal, reaching the play-offs where his side meet Croatia. The first leg is in Burgos on Saturday and with a team boasting FIFA World Cup winner Juan Mata plus new sensation Sergio Canales, expectations are high on La Rojita once again.

UEFA.com: What do you know about Croatia?

Luis Milla: We know this Croatia team are very tough and physical. They are quick and wait for their opponents' mistakes before making swift counterattacks. They are tactically very strong. They will be very tough opponents.

UEFA.com: What influence could the players who participated at the World Cup have on this team?

Milla: They are role models and examples of commitment. Having Javi Martínez and Juan Mata with us again is just fantastic. It was up to them to decide if they wanted to come and help our team and [the fact they did] is exemplary and shows great commitment. I think it's important there are players like Javi Martínez [who has since pulled out of the squad through injury] and Mata, and that there are players like Canales and Thiago [Alcántara] to show that if you do things well you can combine different generations in the same team. That makes players try to take a big step all together.

UEFA.com: Canales has made a great start to his U21 career with goals in his first two matches, the crucial recent wins against Poland and the Netherlands. What impresses you the most about him?

Milla: Above all, how he has developed over the last year. He has made a huge leap very quickly. He progressed from the B team at Racing to its first team. And then, from Racing to Real Madrid. There is also a sense of maturity.

UEFA.com: How important is U21 football for a player's development?

Milla: It is the immediate step before the main national team so it is a huge motivation to everyone, and my job is to give it a boost. Spanish players are very proud to represent their country from the youth teams onwards.

UEFA.com: What methods do the U21s and Spain's other sides share?

Milla: We have a link between the national youth-team coaches and the first-team coach. There is a footballing concept, and then there has to be a practical method. We place importance on working with the ball, but also to very specific situations, like when we lose possession. We are a very ambitious side, a very attacking one, which takes the initiative, but we have opponents who want to outplay us so our idea is to try to prepare for every scenario we could possibly face. I was at clubs where they encouraged players to take the initiative, to try to control the match and ball possession. In the national team, we try to do the same.

UEFA.com: What gives you most pleasure in your job?

Milla: Of course what pleases every coach the most is players applying their ideas on the pitch. We try to form the boys so that they can compete at the highest level. We also try to make them good people, respectable, with good values and that they can compete well. I think that is the satisfaction; that in the end they develop well. After all, what we want is to form people and players so that they can compete in the first team.

UEFA.com: Now comes the biggest test...

Milla: Well yes, it's a tough path to qualify for the European Championship and after that the Olympic Games. I think there is the right mentality and motivation from everybody involved, the federation and especially the team; everybody knows about the importance of making it to the European Championship. It was a difficult task, because we had a strong opponent who won the group, the Netherlands, but the team is stronger now.