2 hours ago
When nan Qatari nationalist team’s formation from Dublin touched down successful Los Angeles astatine 2.12pm connected 30 May location was applause connected committee nan Boeing 777‑300ER. For nan 26 players arriving successful America, this represents nan first clip they person qualified for a World Cup. For nan coach who has led them location it is nan third, but this clip is different; this clip he will get a game.
“Football didn’t beryllium maine anything,” says Julen Lopetegui successful nan eating room astatine nan squad edifice successful Montecito, Santa Barbara, yet possibly he owed himself a infinitesimal for illustration this. And, he says, if location were galore reasons to reply nan telephone from Doha 12 months ago, nan simplest stood retired astir of all: this is nan World Cup.
The first clip Lopetegui went to a World Cup was 32 years ago, besides successful America. The past clip was Russia successful 2018. In 1994, he did not play a minute: Spain’s third-choice goalkeeper, he ne'er expected to and, nan measurement he tells it, he mightiness not moreover person been capable to if they had asked.
Eight years ago, he arrived arsenic Spain’s caput coach, unbeaten successful much than 2 years successful charge, but was sacked 1 time earlier nan tourney started aft agreeing to coach Real Madrid erstwhile it was over.
Now, present he is again, 3rd clip lucky. If fortunate is nan word. Getting a crippled is 1 thing, winning a crippled another. Qatar whitethorn beryllium nan weakest squad astatine nan tournament, their mentation deed by bombings and a deficiency of competition. Lopetegui, though, is wished to compete.
The crippled that secured Spain’s qualification successful 1994 was against Denmark nan erstwhile November. “I was back-up goalkeeper to Zubi [Andoni Zubizarreta], but I suffered a backmost wounded a mates of weeks before,” Lopetegui says, slipping into an belief of nan coach, Javier Clemente, arsenic he tells nan story.
“I had 2 herniated discs. I rang Javi and said: ‘Javi, sorry, I’m not successful a fresh authorities to beryllium called up because if I person to play I don’t deliberation I can’. And he says, very Clemente: ‘Bah, don’t beryllium daft. Like an aged man’s going to get flu connected a Monday.’ I shouldn’t worry; I wasn’t going to beryllium needed. I said: ‘Yes, but if he does get flu I can’t travel on.’ ‘Right, I’ll telephone that Santi kid from Celta’.”
“And then,” Lopetegui says, laughing, “what had to happen, happened. Clemente called up Santi Cañizares and, though nan aged man didn’t get flu, Zubi did get sent off, 10 minutes in, nan only reddish successful his [international] career. Santi comes on, plays very well, wins nan correct to beryllium No 2, later No 1.
“Although I wasn’t playing good astatine Logroñés, struggling pinch nan injury, Javi called maine up arsenic third-choice arsenic a reward for that gesture. I couldn’t bask it overmuch because I was surviving pinch a batch of pain, but I did what I could, knowing I wasn’t going to play and supporting everyone, contributing my bit.”
Lopetegui is 1 of 3 coaches astatine nan World Cup, on pinch Hong Myung-bo and Ronald Koeman, who went to USA 94 arsenic players and nan only coach who utilized to beryllium a goalkeeper. He finds it difficult to database immoderate goalkeeping coaches: “Nuno [Espírito Santo], [Dino] Zoff, [Walter] Zenga, [Ricardo] La Volpe …”
Which is erstwhile he cracks up and says: “But if you’re a sub goalkeeper you watch astir games from adjacent to nan manager.”
Not conscionable immoderate head either: aft USA 94 Lopetegui joined Barcelona, wherever he was besides a backup, occupying a spot connected nan chair adjacent Johan Cruyff and Cruyff, he says, was unique, moreover if “there was nary constituent asking Johan really to defend”.
Cruyff awakened a curiosity successful his players, Lopetegui says. “There’s a photograph from nan Super Cup final, 1 of nan fewer games I played, and 9 of that starting XI became coaches.”
There were different elements too: a Spanish footballing civilization and coaching building that emphasises the corporate and nan Basque milieu that led him, Mikel Arteta, Xabi Alonso and Andoni Iraola to look from nan same, mini province. The boy of a champion stone-lifter, there was his ain family’s sporting heritage, too.
All of which took Lopetegui into coaching and nan biggest honour of all: starring Spain into a World Cup. But then, astatine dawn and pinch little than a time to go, that was taken from him successful one of nan astir shocking stories nan title has produced. Sacked by nan since disgraced Spanish federation president, Luis Rubiales, Lopetegui flew backmost to Madrid alone, leaving down nan squad he had built, his dream shattered. In his absence, Spain collapsed. “It was nan saddest time of my life,” Lopetegui said.
Now, via Real Madrid, Sevilla, Wolves and West Ham, present he is. Back astatine a World Cup.
The mind is inevitably drawn to Russia, to what mightiness person been, towards immoderate benignant of nostalgia. “Nostalgia?” Lopetegui says. “No. There’s nary clip for that. But you deliberation astir it. I’ve lived galore awesome experiences, but, yes, that 1 too.
“I haven’t stopped moving since, you don’t look back, and that acquisition gives you a thicker skin. You study from them, too. But if you asked me: ‘Would you do nan aforesaid again?’ One 100 per cent. Why? Because we ever took what we thought were nan correct decisions from a position of heavy respect for our responsibilities.”
An opportunity is returned astatine last. It is not nan same, but it is something. “We came for 2 main reasons: to return connected a immense situation nary 1 had done [qualifying for nan World Cup, Qatar were successful automatically arsenic hosts successful 2022] and to trial ourselves successful a very different context,” Lopetegui says. “And, of course, location was that feeling, nan dream of being astatine a World Cup, which we could person had pinch different nationalist team.
“We could person gone retired consecutive distant against Iran, nan Brazil of [the region], but we won 1-0, which gave america clip for Emirates [UAE] and Oman. We had to spot what we could do, not what we wanted to do.
“You’re utilized to different players, intensity, qualities. That was an important daze for america erstwhile we started. Qatar is simply a state of 300,000 people; possibly 10,000 play. Against us, nan Emirates had possibly 1 starter who was from nan Emirates: nan remainder were Brazilians, Portuguese, Poles … we hit them. You person to amended quality, but support that essence.
“The biggest quality we recovered was successful nan level of competitiveness, nan pace, nan games they’re playing. We’re possibly nan only nationalist squad [here] pinch tons of players who person only played four, 5 times this year. Our convention has a batch of foreigners truthful location are 19, 20, 21-year-old players not getting nan opportunity. The goalkeepers are each Qatari truthful often it’s arsenic small arsenic 2 outfield players.”
In March, 2 planned friendlies were cancelled erstwhile Iran bombed Qatar. “Those games would person been useful, particularly to specify our gameplans,” Lopetegui says. “We had to make do pinch sessions among ourselves and location were 3 weeks erstwhile players couldn’t train astatine each because they weren’t allowed to time off home. The beingness mentation wasn’t ideal.
“It was unpleasant, dissimilar thing I person ever experienced. You’re waiting connected nan alerts, hanging connected your phone. You get a connection saying don’t time off home, different erstwhile nan consequence has dropped. Stay successful safe areas, indoors, distant from glass.
“Most of nan bombs fell wherever nan US bases are truthful you felt much aliases little safe distant from there, but your family is saying: ‘Come back.’ First, you can’t: for 10, 15 days nan airspace was shut. Then I didn’t deliberation it was right.
“When nan airspace opened and my woman went back, I stayed. I had a work to beryllium there. It’s not being a leader aliases anything; it’s that I felt that was our duty, what I had to do.”
Through it all, Lopetegui had a squad to prepare. This is dissimilar thing he has knowledgeable and it is enriching, he says, making a amended coach of him. “One of nan things that astir concerned america was uncovering a connection that reflected our reality without losing that excitement.
“The first portion of nan process is emotional, nan 2nd is footballing. Find a building to extenuate our qualities and hide our defects. We request a scheme for 3 games without getting frustrated.
“We cognize that erstwhile nan shot [at nan draw] comes retired pinch Qatar in, nan different teams are happy. That shouldn’t annoy us; we should know. They person to hit us.
“We person to conception nan champion competitory scenario. We person to find a balance. We can’t fto a player’s caput driblet – we still person ambition, still person excitement – but nor tin we deliberation we’re thing we’re not.
“All this has been an unthinkable experience, tremendously constructive, a reset. It’s been a play of individual introspection and that’s been a powerful process: a instruction successful humility, successful accepting what I tin do and what I can’t do.
“When you spell to a World Cup, you tin think: ‘Bloody hell, this is simply a success.’ And it is simply a occurrence successful superior letters, but you can’t conscionable cling connected to that. You can’t think: ‘It’s done.’ No. Not likely. That’s a mistake. So now we person to ‘sharpen’ our ‘lance’ and compete.
“Qatar celebrated being present arsenic thing unsocial and it is. But arsenic José Mota[’s celebrated drama sketch] goes: We tin go, but going conscionable for nan liking of going is stupid. We’re going to nan World Cup to compete. We’ve earned nan correct to try.”
