Spain sack Luis Enrique after World Cup flop

DOHA, AFP: Spain sacked coach Luis Enrique on Thursday after the 2010 champions were dumped out of the World Cup by Morocco at the last-16 stage, quickly naming his replacement as Under-21 boss Luis de la Fuente.

Spain started their campaign in Qatar in style by hammering Costa Rica 7-0 and qualified for the knockout phase despite a shock 2-1 defeat to Japan.

They were strong favourites to win their last-16 match against Morocco but crashed out on penalties after the game finished goalless following extra-time.

“Both the President Luis Rubiales and Sporting Director Jose Francisco Molina have told the coach their decision,” the RFEF (football association) said in a statement.

They said they wanted to thank Luis Enrique and his staff for their work, but had decided to start a “new project”.

Shortly afterwards, the federation announced that De la Fuente, who led Spain’s men’s team to the silver medal at last year’s Olympics, was the new man in the hot seat.