OFFICIAL: Lopetegui extends Spain contract
Julen Lopetegui has extended his Spain contract to 2020, meaning he will oversee qualifying for the next European Championship.
Spain head coach Julen Lopetegui has signed a new contract that will run until 2020, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has confirmed.
It was widely expected that the Spaniard would put pen to paper and he finally done so, with the President of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales saying that the deal was a straightforward one.
"It took 5 minutes to close the deal. It was very easy. He's the best man to lead the national team, we have great hope for him. As he says, he have a ticket for three games and anything more must be earned," Rubiales explained.
Meanwhile, Lopetegui admitted his delight at sealing the extension, saying: "I'm grateful to the Spanish Football Federation and to the President for this act of faith in myself and my coaching staff, we're dleighted and now we're focused on the World Cup, which we're very hopeful for. That's pretty much it. Thank you very much.
"Having this continuity is always good. It wasn't something that we had lost sleep about, managers tend to focus on the day to day and let everything take its natural course. Obviously we're delighted."
Lopetegui took over the reins as manager of 'La Roja' back on July 21 2016, following Vicente Del Bosque's retirement and has yet to taste defeat in his 18 matches in charge, winning 13 and drawing five.