JAKARTA - The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has decided to remove Luis Enrique from the national team coach seat. He is considered a failure as La Furia Roja was eliminated in the round of 16 after losing on penalties to Morocco.
Luis Enrique's contract will actually expire at the end of the tournament in Qatar. RFEF then confirmed on Thursday, December 8, the former Barcelona coach will not survive as entrenador for Jordi Alba and his friends.
RFEF later announced Luis de la Fuente would take over the role. He previously handled the Spanish U-21 team.
After the announcement, Luis Enrique also made a farewell letter. He admitted to "realizing" after Spain was eliminated early in the 2022 World Cup.
Luis Enrique also expressed his gratitude to those who have helped while leading La Furia Roja. He then asked the fans to support De La Fuente.
"I can only be very grateful to those who have signed me twice (President Rubiales and sporting director Molina), to all RFEF employees who share experiences with us, of course, to the players who have been role models in behavior," wrote Enrique, who was later uploaded to his social media account.
"Sorry I couldn't help more. It's so special to be a part of this. Finally, thank you to the fans who have compactly expressed their support to us all the time and especially at the most difficult times."
"It's time to say goodbye and in this incident there is little reflection, what the team needs is support in all so that Luis de la Fuente achieves everything he wants," said Enrique.
52-year-old Enrique has started leading the Spanish national team since 2018. His best achievement during that period was to bring Spain to the semifinals of the 2020 European Cup which took place last year.
The former Barcelona coach temporarily resigned from his role in 2019 because his late daughter was diagnosed with bone cancer. He then took up his post again in preparation for the European Cup last year.
After being eliminated by Italy in the semifinals of the European Cup, Enrique hopes his team can go further in Qatar. Unfortunately, they stopped in the round of 16 after losing on penalties to Morocco.
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