World Cup failure leads to big-name managerial casualty

The Spanish FA has reacted to the shock FIFA World Cup exit at the hands of Morocco on Tuesday by sacking national team coach Luis Enrique. 

The 55-year-old former Barcelona boss took charge of the Spanish team over two spells, his first between July 2018 and March 2019 – after which he resigned for personal reasons before reassuming his position in November 2019. 

“The RFEF would like to thank Luis Enrique – and his coaching staff – for being in charge of the national team over the last few years,” said the Spanish FA in a brief statement on Thursday. 

It added that a “new project” would soon start, and it was confirmed shortly afterwards that Enrique’s successor would be Luis de la Fuente, a longtime coach of Spanish youth-level teams. 

Enrique enjoyed a reasonably trouble-free qualification process for the Qatar World Cup with his side topping their group, shortly after guiding Spain to the Euro 2020 semifinals. 

However, their qualification form certainly didn’t transfer to the World Cup, with Spain recording just a sole victory in Group E and finishing as surprise runners-up to Japan. 

For a few brief moments it also appeared that Spain might even crash out in the group stage, but their blushes were saved by Germany’s late fightback against Costa Rica.

But it seems that this only delayed the inevitable. 

Spain were unable to break down a stubborn Moroccan rearguard when push came to shove in their last-16 clash this week, with Spanish flaws highlighted when they failed to convert a single spot-kick in the ensuing penalty shootout – a result which has expedited Enrique’s departure.