It’d be fair to assume Real Madrid president Florentino Perez would sympathize with anyone changing managers in a fit of emotion, but the 71-year-old is enraged on behalf of his new coach Julen Lopetegui.
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Madrid introduced Lopetegui on Thursday. The Spanish coach is taking the reins from resigned boss Zinedine Zidane one day after the Spanish national team fired Lopetegui for taking the Real job without informing them.
Yes, the same Spanish team who enters this month’s World Cup as one of the favorites.
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Perez lambasted the Spanish federation, which claimed both Lopetegui and his new club “betrayed” the country, citing Chelsea and Manchester United hiring Antonio Conte and Louis van Gaal on the eve of major tournaments for their national teams.
And Lopetegui claimed his players reacted well to his telling them he’d leave the national team set-up after the World Cup.
At one point, Lopetegui became emotional in discussing the last 24-48 hours.
We get it, Julen, and there’s no reason for him to feel shamed. We supposed he could’ve told Real to wait until after the World Cup to speak, but then could miss out on a dream job.
The 51-year-old coached Real Madrid B from 2008-09 before moving onto Spain’s youth set-up, then Porto, then Spain’s senior team.
Lopetegui (crying): "yesterday was, after the death of my mum the saddest day of my life... But today is the happiest"
— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) June 14, 2018
