Luis Enrique Martínez will take over the Spanish national team again, instead of his former assistant Robert Moreno, five months after leaving it due to the illness and subsequent death of one of his daughters, announced today the president of the Spanish Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales.
"Today we can confirm that Luis Enrique is returning to his position," Rubiales said at a press conference at the Ciudad del Futbol in Las Rozas.
Rubiales assured that Robert Moreno was the one who informed the federation officials in September that Luis Enrique was thinking of returning to coaching.
"We found out through Robert Moreno that Luis Enrique wanted to return to coaching," Rubiales said, adding that they then spoke with the former coach, who "told us that he wants to return to his position, that he wants to return to coaching."
In this situation, Moreno asked the sports director José Francisco Molina last Sunday to clarify his situation.
"Molina tells him that we want to talk after the qualification (for the Euros) and he demands to know his future again, and Molina tells him that if Luis Enrique wants to return to his position, if he wants to lead the project he has started, we will consider this possibility," Rubiales said.
'Not be an obstacle'
According to the president of the RFEF, on Monday Moreno communicated that "he wants to agree to his departure and not be an obstacle to Luis Enrique's return."
"So I ask Luis Enrique if he would be willing to return to his position, and he tells me that he will gladly return and thanks us for keeping our word," Rubiales said, forced to explain Moreno's surprising departure.
The former Spanish coach avoided a press conference on Monday after the 5-0 win against Malta, the last match of the qualifiers, raising all the alarms on the day Spain guaranteed to be seeded at the 2020 Euro Cup.
Luis Enrique returns to the national team exactly five months after resigning on June 19 due to his daughter Xana's illness, who finally died of cancer two months later.
At the time of his resignation, Luis Enrique had already been remotely leading the team since he urgently left the team's concentration the day before the qualifying match against Malta, the first of the three matches that Moreno, then Luis Enrique's assistant, took charge of and won.
After Luis Enrique's departure, the RFEF chose to continue with Moreno, although Rubiales left the door open for Luis Enrique.
"He had to leave his position due to the worst situation a parent can experience, but it's Luis Enrique's project, he had our promise that the door would always be open" for him to return, Rubiales added, denying that Moreno's appointment was temporary.
In June, "we introduced a coach who was going to go to the Euro Cup unless Luis Enrique returned," Rubiales said, preferring not to comment on whether any personal issues have arisen between Moreno and Luis Enrique.
"The issues between Luis Enrique and Moreno are matters that neither Molina (sports director) nor I get involved with," said the president of the RFEF, who thanked Robert Moreno for his work.
Until Qatar
The former coach did not attend a meeting with the RFEF on Tuesday, sending only his lawyers, Rubiales explained.
Regarding Luis Enrique's return, Rubiales stated that they have not yet signed anything: "We would like to close it before January 1 so that he can start planning everything."
The president of the RFEF revealed that Luis Enrique has expressed his desire to "finish the cycle in Qatar (2022 World Cup)."
"Regardless of what happens in the Euro Cup, we have a moral duty with him to allow him to continue what he started," said the president of the RFEF.
"I think Luis deserves it and I thank him for wanting to stay until Qatar because I'm sure he already had offers and he has prioritized the national team," Rubiales concluded. (D)