How to Pronounce Julen Lopetegui? Trends on Google After Spain Sacks Coach for Accepting Real Madrid Manager Job Ahead of 2018 FIFA World Cup

Less than 24 hours to go for the planet’s biggest sporting event, the 2018 FIFA World Cup to kick off and it has already courted a huge controversial incident – the sacking of Spain’s national coach, Julen Lopetegui over conflict of interests. The 51-year-old, a former Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper was the current head coach of Spain national team before being fired for accepting the Real Madrid manager job. It is to be noted that in two days’ time Spain will play their first match of FIFA World Cup 2018 against Portugal on June 15. However, amidst the chaotic situation, netizens seem to be curious about knowing how to pronounce Julen Lopetegui. Yes, of all the questions, from who is the new coach of Spain side to team’s present status, football fans are more keen to learn about pronouncing sacked coach’s name as it trends on Google! Julen Lopetegui Sacked as Spain's Coach Ahead of FIFA World Cup 2018, Pays Price To Sign as Real Madrid's Head Coach!

When Spanish giants and current UEFA Champions League 2018 winners Real Madrid announced on Tuesday that Julen Lopetegui would succeed Zinedine Zidane as football club’s new manager at the Bernabeu on a three-year deal, it took everyone by surprise. But what came as a real shocker was the following announcement by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) to strip Julen off the duties of head coach of the side visiting Russia for the football world cup.

Lopetegui had become the head coach of Spain in 2016 after the retirement of Vicente del Bosque and the team truly enjoyed an unbeaten run during his reign. Despite having a phenomenal record, the ‘back-stabbing’ on Julen Lopetegui’s part got the federation to sack him immediately. Spain sporting director Fernando Hierro has been named to take charge for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The sudden new development in 2010 World Champions’ camp has led to a huge commotion among netizens who have bombarded the search engine with questions including the crazy ones about Julen Lopetegui.

According to Google Trends, “’How to pronounce Julen #Lopetegui?’ is a top searched question on the sacked Spain manager the day before the #WorldCup”. This was followed by – “Why was Julen Lopetegui fired? Who will replace Julen Lopetegui? Who is Julen Lopetegui? What is Julen Lopetegui's salary?”

Seeing the craze for knowing on how to pronounce Julen Lopetegui’s name, here’s a video from pronouncenames.com YouTube channel. Julen Lopetegui Argote (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈjulen lopeˈteɣi aɾˈɣote]; see if it is helpful in quenching some curiosity level of yours.

Meanwhile, Spanish football federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales has sent out a strong message by sacking the coach, two days before the national side takes on Portugal to kick off world cup campaign in Russia. He admitted of coming to know of Lopetegui's new role with Real Madrid barely fives minutes before the club formally announced it. He also admitted of finding himself in "a very difficult situation" as he added, "I know there's going to be criticism whatever I do."

"I'm sure this will, in time, make us stronger. I admire Julen very much, I respect him very much. He seems a top trainer and that makes it harder to make the decision. You can't do things this way, two or three days before the World Cup. We have been compelled to make this decision." We are sure the fans would completely side RFEF president’s decision however crude it may appear on the face. Spain is placed in Group B with Portugal, Morocco and Iran and they play their tournament opener on June 15.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 13, 2018 10:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).