New Spain coach vows ‘evolution’
Julen Lopetegui, who led Spain’s youth teams to international success, has vowed to build upon the groundwork already laid by outgoing manager Vicente del Bosque as he takes over the squad.
The Spanish soccer federation on Thursday named the 49-year-old former goalkeeper as the new national coach, just weeks after Del Bosque resigned following Spain’s loss to Italy in the last 16 of Euro 2016.
“We will not be having a revolution, but rather an evolution within our ideas,” Lopetegui told a media conference at the federation’s headquarters in Las Rozas de Madrid, northeast of the Spanish capital.
“We will take advantage of all that Spanish soccer has done right for many years; we are not going to waste that. But we will adapt to each moment, to each rival. Soccer does not stop. Spanish soccer is proud of its past, but we will look to the future.”
Del Bosque led Spain to the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 titles, after taking over from Euro 2008-winning coach Luis Aragones.
But the second half of his stint was disappointing, with the 2-0 loss to Italy following a stunning group-stage exit from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and he was criticized for not giving the newer generation a chance.
Lopetegui, who was fired by Portuguese side FC Porto in January, signed a two-year contract that will see him manage Spain until the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Thanks to his success with Spain’s under-19s and under21s, he has long been a favorite of Spanish FA head Angel Maria Villar, who made the appointment before concentrating on his bid to replace Michel Platini as UEFA chief.
Lopetegui is reported to have overcome stiff competition from veteran former Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao coach Joaquin Caparros for the post.
He confirmed media reports that he had been in talks with English second-division side Wolverhampton Wanderers, but said those discussions “took a back seat” when he got the call from the Spanish federation.
Del Bosque wished his successor well.
“He’s a man with experience, well trained and with huge enthusiasm and lots of energy,” he told Radio Marca. “He knows how to manage, like he has done brilliantly in the younger age categories.”
Lopetegui has achieved varying degrees of success on the pitch and as a coach.
His spells as a goalkeeper at Real Madrid and Barcelona saw him spend much of his time on the bench, but he was highly successful at smaller club Logrones from 1991 to 1994 at a time when the team was in the country’s first division.
Retiring from the pitch in 2002, he became coach of Madrid-based Rayo Vallecano — a team in Spain’s second tier — where he had last played before retiring.
He then moved on to Real Madrid, where he coached the club’s Castilla reserve team, the same post Z in edi ne Zidane held before moving on to manage the first team.
But Lopetegui, who hails from the northern Basque country, really made his name when he coached the national team’s under-19s, under-20s and under-21s from 2010 to 2014.
He led his teams to victory in the 2012 European Under19 Championship and a year later in the Under-21 European Championship which featured David de Gea, Thiago Alcantara and Alvaro Morata, all of whom were at Euro 2016.
Fresh from that success, he took over Porto in 2014 and led it to the quarterfinals of the 2014-15 Champions League.
His first match will be Spain’s friendly in Belgium on Sept 1.