credit: twitter
The Spanish National Team have parted ways with coach Luis Enrique following the 2010 World Cup winners' shock exit from the FIFA World Cup 2022 after losing 0-3 to Morocco on penalties in the Round of 16 tie at the Education City Stadium on Tuesday.
The former Barcelona manager, Luis Enrique managed Spain for three years before leaving his position following their exit from the quadrennial showpiece on December 6. The Spanish football federation, RFEF took to their official Twitter handle and announced the exit of Luis Enrique.
Spain wasted no time and appointed Luis de la Fuente as the new head coach of the Spanish men's football team. The 61-year-old Fuente will take charge of the first official match of Spain in March 2023 in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualification match against Norway.
Spain opened their World Cup campaign on a high note as they thrashed Costa Rica 7-0 in their first match of the Group E, but unable to continue their striking form and played a 1-1 draw against Germany in their second group fixture and ultimately lost 2-1 to Japan in their final group stage fixture. Despite being levelled on four points with Germany, Spain qualified for the Round of 16, thanks to their massive goal difference.
In the Round of 16 fixture, Spain failed to score a goal against Morocco after the 120 minutes of the game and the match was forced to the penalties, where the Atlas Lions get the better of La Roja as their goalkeeper Yassine Bounou displayed a brilliant performance to keep a clean sheet throughout the game and forced the Spanish players to commit mistakes.
Meanwhile, Morocco will square off against Portugal in the quarterfinals on Saturday, December 10 at the Al Thumama Stadium in the FIFA World Cup 2022.