Mikel Oyarzabal does not sound like a player caught up in the noise around Spain.

The Real Sociedad forward has become one of the important figures in Luis de la Fuente’s national team, but he continues to speak with the same calm tone that has shaped much of his career.

Now, with Spain preparing to face Austria in the World Cup round of 32, Oyarzabal has urged perspective at a moment when criticism and doubt have begun to follow the squad.

A player who prefers the pitch

According to El Mundo, special correspondent Eduardo J. Castelao spoke with Oyarzabal in Los Angeles before Spain’s knockout match against Austria.

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The picture that emerges is of a footballer who is most comfortable when the conversation is about the game itself.

Oyarzabal made clear that he prefers the simple parts of the profession: training, playing and competing. The rest, the outside debate and the constant interpretation of every result, does not appear to interest him in the same way.

That may explain why he has taken a more measured view of Spain’s current mood.

“You are in a somewhat negative wave, I don’t quite know the reason,” Oyarzabal said.

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It was not an angry complaint, but more a quiet observation from a player who seems slightly detached from the noise that surrounds the national team.

Spain needs a response

The meeting with Austria is not a warm-up match.

It is a World Cup knockout game, and that changes the pressure completely. Spain no longer have room for a flat performance or a slow reaction.

For De la Fuente, the match is a chance to show that Spain can turn possession and technical quality into control when the stakes rise. For the players, it is an opportunity to move the conversation away from doubt and back toward results.

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Oyarzabal’s message fits that moment. He is not asking for praise, and he is not pretending there is nothing to improve. He is simply asking for a calmer reading of where Spain actually stand.

De la Fuente’s trust is clear

De la Fuente’s confidence in Oyarzabal has been obvious.

The Spain coach has praised him as one of the best players in the world, a strong statement for a forward who has often been admired more for his intelligence and reliability than for spectacle.

That trust matters because Oyarzabal offers Spain something different. He is not only a finisher. He links play, works without the ball and understands the rhythm of matches.

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In a team full of technical midfielders and wide attacking talent, that kind of forward can be essential.

Calm before the knockout stage

Oyarzabal has never seemed desperate to become the loudest figure in the room.

That is part of his value to Spain. At a tournament where pressure can quickly grow, he gives De la Fuente a player who appears steady, mature and difficult to disturb.

Austria will test Spain physically and emotionally. Knockout football rarely allows teams to play without suffering at some point.

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But Oyarzabal’s view is clear. Spain must focus less on the noise around them and more on the work in front of them.

The answer to the negative wave, if there is one, will not come through words. It will come on the pitch.