#3 Julen Lopetegui – Spain
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It is the dawn of a new era for 2010 World Cup winners Spain as they prepare for life after Vicente Del Bosque. The former Real Madrid manager had led the Spain national team to three consecutive titles with victories in EURO 2008, the World Cup in 2010 and the EURO 2012.
However, the team somewhat lost its way as they lost to Brazil in the 2013 Confederations Cup, followed by a group stage exit in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. They failed to impress at the recently concluded Euros as well, with Italy defeating the Spaniards 2-0 in the round of 16 stage, following which Del Bosque stepped down.
Lopetegui, who has worked with Spanish youth teams, had impressed in his brief time with F.C Porto. He started his international management with a friendly victory against Belgium, followed by an 8-0 thrashing of Liechtenstein in the first round of qualifiers as talismanic Chelsea striker Diego Costa scored a double along with Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata.
The new Spanish manager will face his biggest test till date as his team face Italy and will be hoping for vengeance following their EURO 2016 exit at the hands of the Italians. The Spaniards will then take on Albania who defeated Macedonia 2-1 in their first fixture.
