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Madrid - Former Porto boss Julen Lopetegui was appointed manager of Spain on Thursday, replacing World Cup and European championship winning head coach Vicente del Bosque.
"The Royal Spanish Football Federation has named Julen Lopetegui as new national manager," the national team announced on its official website in a brief statement.
The former goalkeeper, who achieved lukewarm success on the pitch, retired from professional football in 2002.
He became coach of Rayo Vallecano -- a team in Spain's second tier division -- where he had last played before retiring.
He then moved on to Real Madrid where he coached its reserve team Castilla, the same post that Zinedine Zidane held before moving on to managing the A-team.
The 49-year-old subsequently coached the national team's under-19s, under-20s and under-21s.
And then he moved to FC Porto where he remained until January this year, when he was sacked for not getting good enough results.
The post became vacant after Del Bosque resigned following Spain's defeat to Italy in the Euro 2016 last 16.
Former Real Madrid boss Del Bosque led Spain to the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 titles, after taking over from Euro 2008-winning coach Luis Aragones
