PAIN FOR SPAIN COULD SEND WORLD CUP BID DOWN DRAIN

2010 champions in turmoil as manager Lopetegui is sacked day before tournament starts for way he accepted Real job

SPAIN arrived at the World Cup as one of the favourites – now their campaign is in disarray following the sacking of coach Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the tournament.

Lopetegui was unbeaten during his two-year reign, but that counted for nothing after it emerged he had negotiated behind his bosses’ backs to join Real Madrid after the World Cup.

Newly-appointed Spain chief Luis Rubiales said he had no option but to dismiss Lopetegui, despite the turmoil it caused, coming just 48 hours before their opener against Portugal.

Spain skipper Sergio Ramos led a delegation of senior players to argue with Rubiales for Lopetegui to stay, but the decision was taken to axe the 51-year-old and put Fernando Hierro – formerly of Real and Bolton – in charge for the tournament.

Ramos, Andres Iniesta, David Silva, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Pepe Reina argued that it was not the time for rash decisions.

They told Rubiales that for many of them, this was their last chance to win the World Cup again, and that he was gambling with all their hopes.

But Rubiales (above) was wounded and angry and in no mood to compromise. As World Cup shocks go, Spain’s sacking of Lopetegui is right up there with Roy Keane’s infamous walk-out on Ireland in Japan, in 2002, and France’s mutinous implosion in South Africa, in 2010.

After Spain’s humiliating groupstage exit as holders at the last World Cup and a last-16 defeat to Italy at Euro 2016, Lopetegui had restored their pride and status.

Spain breezed through World Cup qualifying with nine wins and a draw, while Lopetegui’s record of 14 victories and six draws, with 61 goals scored and 13 conceded, saw his squad arrive in Russia with the best record of any of the 24 nations over the past two years.

But Lopetegui’s dealings with Real served to plunge Spain’s campaign into turmoil and cast a huge shadow over their chances of success in Russia.

National coaches agreeing to take jobs after major tournaments is nothing new, but it was the underhand manner of Lopetegui’s dealings with Real, without the knowledge or consent of his employers, that saw him lose his job on the eve of the biggest tournament in world football.

Hierro, who has been promoted from his role as Spain’s sporting director, now faces a huge task in lifting a squad rocked by their coach’s sudden departure.

Stunned Lopetegui was going to react publicly yesterday, but has now delayed talking about the decision until he returns home.