Julen Lopetegui

Julen Lopetegui Agote (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈʝulen lopeˈteɣjaˈɣote]; born 28 August 1966) is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently a manager.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Lopetegui and the second or maternal family name is Argote.
Julen Lopetegui
Lopetegui as Spain manager in 2017
Personal information
Full name Julen Lopetegui Agote[1]
Date of birth (1966-08-28) 28 August 1966[2]
Place of birth Asteasu, Spain[2]
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
0000 Real Sociedad
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1988 Castilla 61 (0)
1988–1991 Real Madrid 1 (0)
1988–1989 → Las Palmas (loan) 31 (0)
1991–1994 Logroñés 107 (0)
1994–1997 Barcelona 5 (0)
1997–2002 Rayo Vallecano 112 (0)
Total 317 (0)
International career
1985 Spain U21 1 (0)
1994 Spain 1 (0)
1993–2000 Basque Country 3 (0)
Managerial career
2003 Spain U17 (assistant)
2003 Rayo Vallecano
2008–2009 Real Madrid B
2010–2013 Spain U19
2010–2014 Spain U20
2012–2014 Spain U21
2014–2016 Porto
2016–2018 Spain
2018 Real Madrid
2019–2022 Sevilla
2022–2023 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Spain (as player)
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Runner-up1985
Representing  Spain (as manager)
UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Winner2012
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Winner2013
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

A goalkeeper, he played 149 La Liga matches over nine seasons, representing Real Madrid, Logroñés, Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano in the competition. He added 168 appearances in the Segunda División for three clubs, winning one cap for Spain and being a member of the squad at the 1994 World Cup.

Lopetegui started working as a manager in 2003, and spent several years in charge of Spain's youth teams, leading the under-19 and under-21 sides to European titles. He was also head coach of the senior national team for two years, but was dismissed before the start of the 2018 World Cup following the announcement of his agreement to join Real Madrid after the tournament. In club football, he has managed Rayo Vallecano, Castilla, Porto, Real Madrid, Sevilla and Wolverhampton Wanderers, winning the 2020 Europa League with the penultimate side.

Playing career

Club

Born in Asteasu, Gipuzkoa, Lopetegui started his professional career at local Real Sociedad. In 1985, he accepted an offer from Real Madrid, where the 19-year-old played in the B team.[3]

After a loan spell at UD Las Palmas Lopetegui returned, but could never dislodge another veteran, Francisco Buyo,[3] only managing one La Liga appearance during two seasons, a 3–3 away draw against Atlético Madrid as Real were already crowned league champions.[4] He subsequently signed with CD Logroñés, being instrumental as the modest Riojan club consistently managed to retain its top-flight status.[5][6][7]

When Andoni Zubizarreta left for Valencia CF in 1994, Lopetegui joined FC Barcelona,[8] battling – and losing – for first-choice status with longtime understudy Carles Busquets.[9] After the Catalans bought FC Porto's Vítor Baía he was further demoted to third string, and returned to Madrid with Segunda División club Rayo Vallecano in 1997.[3]

Lopetegui was a starter in his first two seasons at Rayo, culminating with their play-off final win over CF Extremadura in June 1999.[10] After returning to the top tier he lost his place to American international Kasey Keller and then Imanol Etxeberria; he played 36 top-flight games from 1999 to 2002. He was nonetheless favoured for the team's run to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2000–01, where they were eliminated by compatriots Deportivo Alavés.[11] He retired at the age of 36.[3]

International

Lopetegui's performances at Logroñés earned him his sole cap with Spain, coming on as a substitute for Zubizarreta for the final 30 minutes of a 0–2 friendly loss to Croatia in Valencia, on 23 March 1994.[12] He was subsequently picked for the squad at that year's FIFA World Cup.[3]

Coaching career

Beginnings

Lopetegui was one of Spain coach Juan Santisteban's assistants at the 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.[13] After the tournament, he had his first head coaching spell at Rayo, with the club in the second level, but was sacked after the tenth match of the 2003–04 campaign,[14] which ended in relegation to division three. After working as a sports commentator, including for LaSexta in the 2006 FIFA World Cup,[15] he returned to coaching, with Real Madrid Castilla, who he played for in the 1980s, now in the third tier.[16]

From 2010 to 2014, Lopetegui worked with the Spanish youth teams, winning the 2012 European Under-19 Championship[17] and the 2013 Under-21 Championship.[18] He left the Royal Spanish Football Federation on 30 April 2014, following the expiration of his contract.[19]

Porto
Lopetegui during a match with Porto in September 2014

Lopetegui returned to club duties on 6 May 2014, being appointed at Portugal's FC Porto.[20] He signed seven Spanish players to the club that summer.[21]

In his first season at the Estádio do Dragão, with the club's biggest budget ever,[22] Lopetegui led them to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, where they equalled the club's biggest defeat in European competitions losing 6–1 against FC Bayern Munich (having lost by the same score to AEK Athens FC in 1978).[23] He failed to win any silverware, contributing to the longest drought during Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa's presidency.[24]

On 8 January 2016, after a 1–3 home loss to C.S. Marítimo in the Taça da Liga,[25] as Porto had already been eliminated from the Champions League and was ranked third in the domestic league after an away loss and a home draw, Lopetegui was relieved of his duties and replaced by Rui Barros.[26] A week later, the club announced that it had terminated the former's contract unilaterally.[27]

Spain

On 21 July 2016, after being strongly linked to English side Wolverhampton Wanderers which was under new ownership,[28] Lopetegui was announced as the new manager of the Spain national team following Vicente del Bosque's retirement.[29][30] In his first match in charge, on 1 September, he led them to a 2–0 friendly victory over Belgium at the King Baudouin Stadium;[31] the nation qualified for the 2018 World Cup, winning nine and drawing one of their group matches.[32]

On 12 June 2018, with the team already in Russia for the tournament, it was announced that Lopetegui would take over as the head coach of Real Madrid on a three-year contract after the conclusion of Spain's involvement at the World Cup.[33] The following day, he was dismissed from his job with the national team and replaced by Fernando Hierro.[34][35]

Real Madrid

Lopetegui's first competitive game in charge took place on 15 August 2018, in a 4–2 loss to rivals Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup after extra time.[36] He thus became the second Real manager to start his tenure by conceding four goals, after Englishman Michael Keeping who began in 1948 being downed 4–1 by RC Celta de Vigo.[37]

Following a string of bad results and, ultimately, a 5–1 away defeat to Barcelona in El Clásico on 28 October 2018, Lopetegui was fired a day later,[38] being replaced by Santiago Solari.[39]

Sevilla

On 5 June 2019, Lopetegui was appointed as the new Sevilla FC manager on a three-year contract.[40][41] In his first year, they finished fourth to qualify for the Champions League,[42] and on 21 August they defeated Inter Milan 3–2 in the 2020 UEFA Europa League final, his first club honour.[43]

Lopetegui agreed to a further two-year extension on 10 January 2021.[44] On 5 October 2022, however, following five losses in eight matches in the new season – the last being 4–1 at home against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League – he was dismissed.[45][46]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

After leaving Sevilla, Lopetegui was interviewed by Wolverhampton, who had recently dismissed Bruno Lage, but he initially turned down the offer due to his 92-year-old father's ill health.[47] He was approached again and, on 5 November 2022, announced he would become the club's new head coach effective 14 November.[48] On his competitive debut on 20 December, his team defeated EFL League Two side Gillingham 2–0 at home in the fourth round of the EFL Cup;[49] this put them into the last eight for the first time since 1995–96.[50] Six days later, on his Premier League bow, they won 2–1 at Everton with a last-minute Rayan Aït-Nouri goal, and the manager thereby became the first at the club to win his opening match in the top flight since John Barnwell in 1978.[51]

Lopetegui eventually led Wolves to 13th place.[52] Towards the end of the campaign, he addressed speculation that he would leave due to the West Midlands club's financial situation,[53] and this came to fruition on 8 August 2023.[54]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 28 May 2023[55]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
PWDLGFGAGDWin %
Rayo Vallecano 1 July 2003 3 November 2003 11 2 2 7 10 17 −7 018.18 [56]
Real Madrid B 1 July 2008 30 June 2009 38 18 9 11 60 45 +15 047.37 [56]
Spain U19-U20-U21 1 August 2010 30 April 2014 45 38 3 4 131 48 +83 084.44 [57]
Porto 1 July 2014 7 January 2016 78 53 16 9 159 54 +105 067.95 [56]
Spain 21 July 2016 13 June 2018 20 14 6 0 61 13 +48 070.00 [56]
Real Madrid 1 July 2018 29 October 2018 14 6 2 6 21 20 +1 042.86 [56]
Sevilla 5 June 2019 5 October 2022 170 90 44 36 247 163 +84 052.94 [58]
Wolverhampton Wanderers 14 November 2022 8 August 2023 27 10 6 11 28 38 −10 037.04 [56]
Total 403 230 89 84 713 395 +318 057.07 —

Honours

Player

Real Madrid

Barcelona

Spain U20

Manager

Real Madrid

Sevilla

Spain U19

Spain U21

References
  1. "Un bisabuelo de Lopetegi medía dos metros; le llamaban 'el Gigante'" [A Lopetegi great-grandfather was two metres tall; they called him 'the Giant'] (in Spanish). EITB. 5 February 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  2. "Julen LOPETEGUI Argote [sic]". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  3. "Julen Lopetegui, de Asteasu a la Selección Española" [Julen Lopetegui, from Asteasu to the Spanish national team]. El Correo (in Spanish). 21 July 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  4. "Toda la suerte de un campeón" [Every bit of champion's luck]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 29 April 1990. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  5. Alacid, Jorge (21 June 1993). "El Logroñés confirma su salvación a costa del Cádiz" [Logroñés confirm survival at the expense of Cádiz]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  6. Alacid, Jorge (4 April 1994). "Oxígeno para el Logroñés" [Oxygen for Logroñés]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  7. García, Luciano (16 May 1994). "Salenko hizo historia con dos goles" [Salenko made history with two goals]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  8. "Andoni y Julen, juntos" [Andoni and Julen, together]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 24 May 1994. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  9. Carbonell, Rafael (8 February 1995). "No me doy por derrotado" [I will not surrender]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  10. Soler, Jaume (1 July 2001). "Vallecas vibra con el ascenso" [Vallecas shakes with the promotion]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). p. 16. Retrieved 14 October 2002.
  11. Soler, Jaume (16 March 2001). "El Alavés cae en Vallecas pero deja fuera al Rayo" [Alavés fall in Vallecas but knock out Rayo]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). p. 14. Retrieved 14 October 2002.
  12. Muñoz, Xavier (24 March 1994). "Baño croata en la noche de Valencia" [Croatian steamroll in Valencia night]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). p. 2. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
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