Former Spain boss Julen Lopetegui has confirmed he was not watching as his country exited the World Cup, although he was at work.
The new Wolves manager is hoping to rescue the Midlands club from their place at the bottom of the table and appears to be fully focused on doing so.
Speaking to Cadena SER, he admitted that Wolves were interested in two Atletico Madrid players for the January transfer market.
Naturally, he was asked to opine on Spain’s disastrous World Cup exit on penalties against Morocco. However Lopetegui wasn’t even watching his own team and former paymasters.
“I couldn’t watch the match against Morocco because we were training. I have not been able to see it, not even on repeat. Logically we are sad and I think that the team had managed to excite an entire country and the team arrived in good shape.”
“The penalties? That speaks of the balance and what a competition like the World Cup means.”
After Luis Enrique took responsibility for Spain not scoring a single one of their penalties, choosing the first three, Lopetegui was asked if he leaves it up to the players or chooses himself.
“Sometimes I have decided it and other times I have left it in the hands of the footballers. Either is a valid choice.”
Famously Loptetegui was dismissed from the Spain job on the eve of the 2018 tournament in Russia. Despite doing a solid job while in charge of La Roja, he was removed from his position when the Royal Spanish Football Federation caught wind of his negotiations to be Real Madrid manager after the tournament.
He was replaced by Fernando Hierro and Spain crashed out on penalties to Russia in similar fashion to this edition. It is hard not wonder, given he hasn’t even watched the highlights, that there is not an element of tenderness about the issue, given he got so close to managing in the World Cup himself.
