Spain’s World Cup dream could be in ruins following the sacking of manager Julen Lopetegui just two days before their opening game…
In a shocking turn of events, just one day prior to the World Cup, the Spanish FA have gotten rid of the man set to lead Spain to World Cup glory. Julen Lopetegui had taken over the Spanish team in 2016 after their failures in both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Euros. Since then, he has made the Spanish team functional and they did not lose a single game during his reign. Spain were the pre-tournament favourites for many people as they possess the quality and the experience in their squad to carry them all the way to another title.
Spain’s biggest club, Real Madrid, were without a manager since the beginning of this month. Zinedine Zidane stepped down as the manager after leading Los Blancos to three successive Champions League titles and cementing his legacy as one of the best tacticians around. His sudden departure meant Real Madrid were in search of a new talented manager. Since many high-profile managers were already tied to their clubs, Real Madrid did not have an array of choices. And yet, Julen Lopetegui was nowhere in the list of potential candidates.
Just two days prior to the World Cup, Real Madrid astonishingly announced Julen Lopetegui would be taking over at the Bernabéu after the World Cup in Russia. Many viewed it as a rather bad decision to announce the decision just before the World Cup, and Real Madrid were criticized as this decision could have potentially affected the team’s performance in the competition.
61 – Spain scored at least one goal in every game they played under Julen Lopetegui, netting 61 goals in total (an average of 3.05 per game, 20 games played). Fired. pic.twitter.com/DrHCtq2lVX
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) June 13, 2018
The Spanish FA were dismayed as they had no information about the talks between their employee Lopetegui and Real Madrid. They only came to know Lopetegui would be switching to Real Madrid five minutes before the press release. This clearly did not please the Spanish football hierarchy as Lopetegui had renewed his contract till 2020 just four weeks ago. The coach could argue that the Real Madrid job was not available by then and when Real Madrid come knocking, you have to listen. In a short press conference by the Spanish representatives yesterday, they announced the sacking of the manager just before their first game against Portugal. Spain’s FA chief Luis Rubiales explained the reason for this sudden sacking,
“The Spanish national team is the team of all the Spaniards. We only found out just five minutes before that he was leaving for Madrid. There is a way that you must act. Julen has worked in a great way with the team, but we cannot accept how he has acted in this case.”
Julen Lopetegui has had a splendid record with the national team who’ve managed not to lose a match under the new Real Madrid manager. Spain have played a total of 20 times under him, winning 14 times and drawing 6. He led Spain to a demolition against Argentina as La Roja put six past La Albiceleste. Spain have scored a total of 61 goals under him, averaging an overwhelming 3+ goals per game. He was believed to be the perfect man to lead La Furia to another World Cup by fans and pundits alike, but it all seems to be going downhill now.
Spain didn’t have to look far to replace the outgoing Lopetegui. Spain’s sporting director and former Real Madrid legend Fernando Hierro has been given the chance to salvage something from the nation’s World Cup campaign. The incoming manager will have to work with the same group of players selected by Lopetegui, with no time to change the system or tweak how the team plays. He has formerly been Spain’s national team assistant and also had a spell at Real Oviedo. Speaking after his appointment, Hierro explained how Spain could still have a shot at glory in Russia.
Fernando Hierro has been confirmed as Spain's manager for the 2018 World Cup.
Full story: https://t.co/EA5OkmYxoB pic.twitter.com/A6xTrjTTf2
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 13, 2018
“Spain have no time to dwell on the sacking of coach Julen Lopetegui. We’ve come to fight for the World Cup, I know they’re going to give 100%. In a World Cup nobody gives anything away. We all know what this means and our responsibilities.”
La Roja are placed in Group B along with neighbours Portugal, against whom they play their very first match. The other two teams are Iran and Morocco. Spain may have problems sorting themselves out in the very first match under new manager Hierro. Ronaldo’s Portugal will be licking their lips given Spain’s situation; fancying their chances at topping the group paving the way to World Cup glory. Seeing the quality of the teams in the group, Spain should easily qualify out of it. In the Round of 16, Spain could feature against teams from Group A like Russia, Egypt, or possibly even Uruguay.
Despite a very new manager in the hot-seat, La Roja’s squad depth should see them through to the quarter-final. Spain’s real test will surely begin in the stages beyond that point, and their tournament will be judged based on those performances. Similarly, it will clarify whether the decision to sack Lopetegui was the right one or not. Should Spain’s dream end in failure, a large chunk of the blame will inevitably fall on Julen Lopetegui and Real Madrid for their actions – regardless of how fair or unfair that might be.