The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has sacked Julen Lopetegui just one day before the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia starts, following his agreement to take charge of Real Madrid from next month.
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On Tuesday, it was announced that Lopetegui would be stepping into Los Blancos' hot seat ahead of the 2018/19 season, following Zinedine Zidane's exit from the Santiago Bernabeu.
After murmurs that Spanish football authorities were unhappy with the timing of the announcement, Lopetegui has now officially been sacked as manager of the national team with immediate effect.
"The Spanish national team is the team of all the Spaniards," Luis Rubiales, the RFEF president, said, according to ESPN correspondent Dermot Corrigan
"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."
Rubiales confirms players tried to save Lopetegui but this was not enough, solely FA's decision, he says. #ESP
— Football España (@footballespana_) June 13, 2018
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Spain take on Portugal in their first match of the World Cup on Friday evening, for which they will now be without Lopetegui.
What do you think of Spain's decision to sack the manager? Let us know in the comments section below.
