This is how Spain reacted to Lopetegui being named Real Madrid's new coach
Jarro de agua fría para la Federación, que no esperaba la marcha del recién renovado Lopetegui
Rubiales iba a participar el miércoles en el congreso de la FIFA en Moscú, pero ofrecerá una rueda de prensa en Krasnodar
The official announcement from Real Madrid that Julen Lopetegui will be their new coach has caught the Spanish FA off guard as well as the majority of the squad in Krasnodar.
Real Madrid decided to make the announcement sooner than expected as they wanted to avoid it being leaked during the tournament. This was because some of the Real Madrid members of the Spanish squad already knew about Lopetegui's imminent appointment at the club.
Even some of the journalists around the training camp had heard about the rumour of Lopetegui taking over at Real Madrid.
But for the vast majority of the group, as well as the important members of the Spanish FA (RFEF), the announcement came as a complete surprise. So much so that as soon as Real Madrid made an official statement, the RFEF was forced to quickly send their own response to confirm that Lopetegui would step down from his role as Spain's national coach after the World Cup.
Another example of how the RFEF was in the dark about this announcement from Real Madrid was that their president, Luis Rubiales, was in Moscow to participate in a FIFA meeting to decide who would host the 2026 World Cup.
However, following the news about their current coach, Rubiales had to change his plans and will instead travel to Kasnodar where Spain are based and offer a press conference tomorrow morning alongside Lopetegui.
