Lopetegui: Yamal should follow Melo s example and learn from their hard work day after day

Hupu, October 31st News Lopetegui led the Qatar national team to successfully qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The former Spanish and former Real Madrid coach recently accepted an interview with "Marca". He reviewed his coaching career, talked about his experience in Qatar, and also mentioned today's young people. The following is the first half of his interview.

First of all, we want to remember Ocho Torena, he was your best friend

(Lopetegui was emotional and paused for a moment before answering) I lost a brother, a person who took care of me since 1985. He was at Real Madrid and I had just joined Castilla. Him, his wife...he was a phenomenal goalkeeper and a true pioneer in the field of goalkeeper coaching. He won titles with Spain with as much humility as possible. He was an example worth following. May he rest in peace where he is.

He is low-key, an unusual quality nowadays

He is reliable, loyal and professional. The last thing that interested him was his personal history. He follows the traditional rules of the locker room and is a fun guy on the outside. I had a chat with him not long ago, and I knew he was not in good health, but I kept holding out hope, which was a shame.

The norms of football have changed, look at what happened in El Clasico

Society has changed, but this is not to blame young people, everything has changed. There is no saying whether this change is right or wrong or should remain the same. Young guys need to be focused and the harder they work off the field, the better they will be on the field. Focus more on the game instead of creating headlines for your media and they will become better football players.

Are you talking about Yamal?

No, it refers to it in general. Yamal is 18 years old and we must wish him as much peace of mind as possible so that he can become the man we all think he can be. Becoming one of the best in the world doesn't happen in a day, it takes years of hard work. To do this, you have to pay attention to the tiny details of your day-to-day life. The role models are Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi: they have been at the top for many years not only because of their talent, but also because of their lifestyle and their hard work day after day. Yamal has an extraordinary talent and wants everyone around him to help him on the great journey that lies ahead of him.

We turned the topic to Qatar, and we could feel it when we walked into the hotel where this interview was conducted: after you led the country to the World Cup, you became a national hero.

People in this country are very excited. This is the first time they have advanced through the qualifiers, and it is after they hosted the World Cup, which is crucial. And it was to knock out regional rivals the United Arab Emirates... We had lost the last two games before, but we did it.

You received a lot of congratulations, even from Madrid?

Yes, of course.

You had only coached six games when you achieved this.

We beat Iran, who are a strong team in the region, which was crucial, and then went through two games in the play-offs, a draw with Oman and a win against the UAE. Within a month I had to gain a deep understanding of the football culture of the region very quickly, my team and I watched all the matches of the Qatar League since August because here, due to the close distance, it can be done. This understanding allows us to remain competitive for this historic milestone.

Qatar lost all three games in 2022, what are the challenges of the 2026 World Cup?

The team framework must be determined before June. The pressure is there, but the dream of the World Cup is even stronger. We're going to try to compete and maybe we need to make some adjustments to the team and we're working on that.

The three greatest successes in the history of Qatari football were all led by Spanish coaches: Felix Sanchez and Marquez winning the Asian Cup, and your current achievements, how do you explain that?

Spanish coaches are very well prepared and they know the country very well, which is very important. Participating in the World Cup brings prestige to these countries. Now, coaches like Vicente Moreno, David Platts, and Holy Land Denia are also doing excellent work here and contributing a lot to the Qatar League. My credit goes to my team, they are great. We had good results everywhere we went... At Real Madrid we left, yes, but if you look at the results at the end of that season, we left not that bad. At Sevilla we achieved something historic: reaching the Champions League three years in a row; at Wolves we achieved something that only Newcastle had done in the history of the Premier League (finishing bottom on Christmas Day but surviving four games before the end of the season); at West Ham we left in 13th place, which wasn't too bad considering what happened; and in Qatar it was qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

You are an authentic Basque, and there are three Malagueños and three Sevillaans in your coaching team, which is interesting, at least.

(Laughter) I don't look at the place of origin.