Spain replace coach Luis Enrique after early World Cup exit

Spain’s shock loss to Morocco and elimination from the men’s World Cup has triggered changes for the country’s national football team, with coach Luis Enrique replaced by Luis de la Fuente.

The Spanish football federation on Thursday thanked Enrique but said it was time to “start a new project” following Tuesday’s defeat. The change was made after a recommendation from Spain’s sporting officials.

The 61-year-old de la Fuente, a former left-back with Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao, helped Spain’s under-19 squad win the European Championship in 2015, and the under-21 team win Euro 2019. He also coached Spain’s squad at the Tokyo Olympic Games, where they won a silver medal.

De la Fuente also once coached the senior national team when youth players were used in a friendly against Lithuania because the main squad had to go into isolation because of the coronavirus.

Other candidates who had been considered included former Belgium manager Roberto Martínez and ex-Athletic Bilbao coach Marcelino García Toral.

Spain got off to a good start in Qatar, routing Costa Rica 7-0. But La Roja did not win again in the group stages, drawing 1-1 with Germany and losing 2-1 to Japan before being knocked out in the round of 16 by Morocco on penalties after a goalless draw in normal and extra time.

Enrique, a Barcelona legend, took over the national team in 2018 to start revamping the squad after its elimination in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Russia. He temporarily left because of the illness and eventual death of his young daughter but returned in 2019.

He helped Spain reach the last four of the Nations League twice, including this season and last year when it lost the final to France.

He also led Spain to the semi-finals of the European Championship last year, losing to Italy in a penalty shootout.

The 52-year-old’s contract had been due to end after the World Cup. Moments after the loss to Morocco, he said he would take some time to rest before starting talks with the federation about his future.

The team’s elimination in Qatar raised more questions about whether Spain, the 2010 world champions, should start overhauling their football philosophy and get rid of the “tiki-taka” ball-possession style that has not produced much in the ways of recent results. Enrique had said he was not planning to relinquish the “tiki-taka” if he remained as a coach, and de la Fuente also is likely to keep it alive.

Football analyst Gemma Soler told Al Jazeera that Enrique’s removal did not come as a surprise following the “disaster” in Qatar and described de la Fuente’s appointment as “an internal solution”.

“He’s been the under-21 coach so he knows all this young generation of Spanish new players,” Soler said, adding that the new coach might share his predecessor’s football ideas but in terms of character, the two men are quite different.

“Luis Enrique has such a [strong] personality, he likes to speak and to be in the spotlight, while Luis de la Fuente is the opposite.”

De la Fuente is expected to make his debut with the senior team when Spain resume playing in qualifying for Euro 2024, facing Norway in their opening match of the campaign on March 25 next year.