Julen Lopetegui in this season had to lead Madrid's "Real" team to the UEFA Champions League knockout stage, but his career in the Spanish capital was marked only by bitter defeats.
The 52-year-old football specialist decided last summer to accept the offer of Madrid's "Real" club, but just agreeing to the contract terms he signed his death sentence - just before the World Cup he was fired from the position of the Spanish national team coach.
According to the agreement, J. Lopetegui was supposed to join the Madrid "Real" team after the World Cup, but the Spanish Football Federation did not tolerate such a move and fired him, even though he did not experience any losses with the national team in two years.
"At that moment it was really hard for me. We worked for two years and were ready to have a fantastic World Cup," said J. Lopetegui.
"I decided to accept the offer from "Real", but I knew I would have to take responsibility for the World Cup. I didn't want to hide the fact that I had a contract with the club for a whole month, so we agreed to hold a press conference and announce everything. I wanted to be open with the public and say that all the attention in the coming months would be focused only on the national team, but the federation president had a different opinion.
That moment was very painful, I will not forget it for the rest of my life. I was surprised by the decision and felt that I did not deserve it.
I remember flying for 5 hours from Moscow to Madrid and not suspecting a single word. It was the most painful experience of my life, but I cannot dwell too much on the past, I need to look at everything from a positive perspective," said the coach.
Summer was unpredictable for J. Lopetegui - from preparing for the World Cup to working at Madrid's "Real" club. Just returning from Moscow, the coach was introduced to his new club, but his experience was even worse - showing good football at the beginning of the season, the "Whites" later fell into a huge rut, and J. Lopetegui himself was fired from the coaching position after a loss at the "Camp Nou" stadium.
"We had a good season start, the team was playing good football, but then there were three very bad weeks. I hoped to find a solution because the season was not over yet. At that time, I was really convinced that we would climb out of the rut.
If I had to describe my career in Madrid, I would probably say that I didn't have enough time.
I have a huge respect for the new team coach and all of his staff. The same I can say about the players, whom I still love very much, they were fantastic with me all that time.
I will never say a bad word about Madrid's "Real". It would be a huge experience for any coach to take over such a team. I hoped to have more time, but it's time to start looking to the future," said the coach.
After being fired, J. Lopetegui's name was associated with other national teams - USA and Mexico. However, the coach is still without a job, but he does not plan to stay idle for long.
J. Lopetegui speaks English, so he does not rule out the possibility of coming to the English "Premier" League in the future, which, in his opinion, is the best in the world.
"As a coach, you have to start thinking about your future. If I could choose, of course, I would choose the best league. England has fantastic competitions. When you watch matches in the Premier League, you see that atmosphere, that respect among players and coaches. It is very important, I would like to feel that.
Of course, Spain also has a fantastic league, players, and coaches. We'll see how things go," briefly mentioned the former "Porto" team manager about his possible career stop.
Even when he was a goalkeeper, J. Lopetegui wearing the "Barca" shorts had the opportunity to work with Johan Cruyff. The Spaniard remembers that time and the influence that legendary Dutch football player and coach had on him.
"After the first training session, I understood that he was exceptional. He shaped the ideas of today's coaches and was always one step ahead of others. As a coach, you always have to be ready to answer the question "why". Why does the player have to do this, why do we work this way and not another. He was exactly like that. If as a player you understood him, then you were better than others," said J. Lopetegui at the end of the interview.
