Lopetegui is joining Real Madrid despite recently extending his contract with the RFEF.GETTY IMAGES
Julen Lopetegui was named Real Madrid's manager "just weeks after committing his future to Spain's national team," according to Anthony Hay of the London DAILY MAIL. Lopetegui on May 22 signed a deal with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to continue coaching La Roja until '20, but Real Madrid "swooped for his services" and he agreed to join the La Liga club after the World Cup. The move "comes as a surprise, with Lopetegui not featuring prominently among the host of managers linked with the role since the departure of Zinedine Zidane." Lopetegui, who has been in charge of Spain's national team for the past two years, agreed to a three-year contract with Real Madrid (DAILY MAIL, 6/12).
RFEF IN SHOCK: In London, Richard Martin wrote the "shock appointment" of Lopetegui three days before Spain kicks off its World Cup campaign "was met with bewilderment and fury as the team’s preparations were thrown into chaos." The announcement came as a "huge slap in the face" to Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales, who "hastily cancelled his appearance" at Wednesday's FIFA Congress and flew from Moscow to the team’s base in Krasnodar, where he will hold a press conference alongside Lopetegui to "explain this most untimely turn of events." In the meantime, the RFEF "imposed a blackout on players, forbidding them from speaking about the appointment." Rubiales was voted in as president last month and his first act was to hand Lopetegui a new contract until after Euro 2020. The coach’s decision to walk away from the national team as soon as the World Cup ends "is a huge blow" to Rubiales' authority. Spanish newspaper El Mundo said, "This is a crime against the state, against public order, because one club can never torpedo the flagship of Spanish football, which has always been the Spain team" (TELEGRAPH, 6/12).
