Former Spain coach Julen Lopetegui has said “life owed me a World Cup” after guiding Qatar to next year’s top football tournament.
Qatar won 2-1 against the United Arab Emirates in Al Rayyan on Tuesday to book their World Cup spot.
“It seems like life owed me a World Cup, and fortunately, today I got it,” Lopetegui, 59, said.
“It’s a reward that I’m grateful for.”
As a player, Lopetegui was part of Spain’s squad at the 1994 World Cup squad but was third-choice goalkeeper and did not play.
He was denied the chance to coach his national team at the 2018 World Cup.
Having steered Spain to an impressive qualifying campaign — winning nine and drawing one of their 10 games, while scoring 36 goals and conceding only three — Lopetegui was surprisingly sacked two days before their World Cup opener for agreeing to take over Real Madrid after the tournament.
Lopetegui has not forgotten that unexpected exit. “I’m very excited to be at a World Cup after what happened some years ago, and now it’s time to experience it with Qatar,” he said.
“There was a desire to be able to reach another World Cup, and that was an important factor in my decision to come here.”
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Lopetegui, who took his second national team job on May 1, less than four months after being dismissed by West Ham, has helped Qatar reach their first World Cup through qualification.
“We’ve been working for this moment for months and everything has turned out well,” he said.
“It’s a historic moment for the country, something that’s never been achieved before. The atmosphere has been extraordinary. We’re very happy.”
Qatar lost all three group games when it hosted the 2022 World Cup and Lopetegui knows they have work to do.
“We have a much older group,” Lopetegui said. “We played with a 41-year-old player [Sebastian Soria] in the second half. We have to refine the group we’ll take to the World Cup.”
