MOSCOW, June 12 -- Real Madrid sprang to massive surprise in the run up to the World Cup finals on Tuesday evening when they announced that Spain coach Julen Lopetegui will replace Zinedine Zidane as their first team coach for next season.

The news is a shock for two reasons; firstly because it comes just three days before Spain kick off their World Cup campaign against Portugal in Sochi and secondly because less than a month ago Lopetegui signed a new contract to remain as Spain coach until after the 2020 European Championships.

The Spanish Football Federation (REFE) gave Lopetegui a vote of confidence after he took them to Russia after an unbeaten qualifying campaign and now they find themselves needing to find a new coach as soon as the World Cup ends.

On strictly sporting terms the move makes sense: Lopetegui already has six Real Madrid players in the Spain squad and has taken a seventh (Jesus Vallejo) along as cover for any late injury worries. He has also spent time working in the Madrid youth system and clearly knows the club well.

Madrid were clearly taken by surprise by Zidane's decision to step down after winning a third consecutive Champions League and given little time to react ahead of the finals. They also had a limited pool of coaches to call from with perhaps the number one candidate, Mauricio Pochettino priced out of the running after he also recently signed a new deal with Tottenham Hotspurs, which didn't include a get-out clause if Madrid came knocking.

【体坛英语资讯：Analysis: Real Madrids Lopetegui announcement bad timing at best for Spain】相关文章：

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