The father of West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui died aged 94 this week, prompting the ex-Spain and Real Madrid boss to return to his homeland ahead of the funeral
West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui has returned to Spain following the death of his father.
Jose Lopetegui, a former weightlifting champion, died aged 94 on Tuesday. He became a famous athlete in Spain, as he competed in the Basque sport of stone-lifting.
Irons boss Lopetegui, who took the West Ham job this summer, last visited him during the November international break. The former Spain and Real Madrid manager will attend his dad’s funeral before returning to England and taking charge of West Ham’s Premier League clash with Brighton this Saturday.
In his absence, Lopetegui’s assistants, Pablo Sanz and Edu Rubio, will oversee training.
A statement from the club read: “West Ham United can confirm head coach Julen Lopetegui has returned to Spain to attend the funeral of his father, Jose, who sadly passed away on Tuesday at the age of 94. The thoughts and sincere condolences of everyone at the club are with Julen, his family and friends, and we kindly ask that their privacy is respected at this time. Lopetegui’s coaching team will oversee training during this period.
Lopetegui spoke about his late father during an interview with the Daily Mail earlier this year. “He was very recognised in stone-lifting in an era when it was much bigger than it is now and you could make a living from it,” the 58-year-old explained.
“He was a great athlete in various sports but he didn’t play football. In fact, I’m the black sheep of the family because my brother was a Basque pelota player for many years at a high professional level.”
Lopetegui got off to a difficult start at West Ham, having succeeded club legend David Moyes. After back-to-back defeats saw his position come under threat earlier this month, the Irons responded with a win at home to Wolves, his former club, and a draw against Bournemouth.
West Ham thought that they’d won it when Lucas Paqueta scored an 87th-minute penalty, but Enes Unal’s free-kick levelled the scores three minutes later. “I think we were very close to winning on a very difficult pitch against a very good team who have been very strong at home,” Lopetegui said post-match.
“We were very close and we did a lot of good things. We had more expected goals than them and in the first half we had a lot of clear chances. It is true that they were strong in the second half, but we came through our bad moment and were able to score our goal. We had one very clear chance before the goal, too, and after it was a pity because they scored one fantastic goal.”
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