Al Ittihad fans are eagerly awaiting the announcement of the club’s new head coach, following the departure of Portuguese coach Nuno Santo after a disappointing season.
It appears that the board of directors, led by Anmar Al Haili, have settled on the new manager of the Tigers, who will be Spanish coach Julian Lopetegui, the former Real Madrid and Spain coach, who is considered one of the best Spanish coaches in the last five years.
Who is Julian Lopetegui?
Lopetegui, 57, has a long and distinguished coaching career, having led a number of major European clubs. He also has a rich history in the game as a coach and player from the mid-1980s.
The Spanish coach managed a number of major Spanish clubs, most notably Real Madrid and Barcelona, before retiring from playing in 2002, when he was a player in the Rayo Vallecano squad.
Shock at Vallecano led Lopetegui to coaching youth teams
Lopetegui turned to coaching, leading Rayo Vallecano in 2003, but he was unable to last long, as he was sacked due to poor results in the same year.
The Spanish coach decided to coach youth teams, leading Real Madrid’s reserve team in the 2008-2009 season, before succeeding in leading the Spanish national team for youth under three age groups, 19, 20, and 21, from 2010 to 2014.
Creating a big name
Lopetegui succeeded in making a big name for himself after leading youth and youth teams, leading the Spanish national team to win the European Cup under 19 in 2012, followed by the European Cup under 21 with the Matador in 2013.
Lopetegui turned to club coaching, his fame spread in the old continent, leading Porto, Portugal in the period from 2014 to 2016, but he failed to win any official title with the Portuguese giant.
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مرحبًا بكابوس الأندية ☠️
السير جولين لوبيتيجي 🇪🇸🤯#الاتحاد pic.twitter.com/tsOFqvquTB— 1927 (@AhbMesh) November 12, 2023
Coaching the Spanish national team and leaving quickly
The Spanish Football Association decided to appoint Julian Lopetegui as the head coach of the national football team in 2016, to replace the veteran coach Del Bosque, who failed to win the European Nations Championship “Euro 2016”, after leading his country to the achievement of winning the 2010 World Cup.
The young coach at the time managed to achieve excellent numbers, leading the Matador in 20 matches, winning 14 matches, drawing 6, and not losing any.
However, he left the coaching of the Spanish national team in surprising circumstances, a few days before the start of the 2018 World Cup finals, after the severe disagreements that occurred with the board of directors at the time.
Some believe that the reason for Lopetegui’s dismissal from coaching the Spanish national team is due to his agreement with Real Madrid to coach the first team, for the president of the Federation, Rubales, to decide not to continue before the start of the World Cup 2018.
Leading Real Madrid
Florentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid, decided to appoint Lopetegui as the head coach of the first team in 2018, and the Spanish coach did not last long in leading the Royal, as he was quickly sacked after losing the Clasico against Barcelona 5-1.
Opta’s statistics network confirmed that the Spanish coach became the second least coach to play with the Merengues since 1929, with a record of 14 matches, after Jose Antonio Camacho, who led the team in only 6 matches, in the period between May 25 and September 20, 2004.
He then moved to Seville in 2019, and succeeded in winning the Europa League title with the Andalusian team during the 2019/2020 season.
Wolves, Lopetegui’s last station
Lopetegui remained at the head of Seville’s technical leadership until last year 2022, before leaving to coach Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Premier League during the last season 2022/2023, but he did not last long, as he led the Wolves in 27 matches, winning 10 matches, drawing 5 matches, and losing 12 matches, for the administration to decide to dismiss him at the.
