Spain appoint Hierro following Lopetegui sacking

Russia was the target of almost 25 million cyber-attacks during the World Cup, President Vladimir Putin said, though he did not indicate who may have been behind the attacks.

"During the period of the World Cup, almost 25 million cyber-attacks and other criminal acts on the information structures in Russia, linked in one way or another to the World Cup, were neutralised," Putin said during a meeting on Sunday with security services. The comments were reported by the Kremlin on Monday.

Starting line-ups for the World Cup third place playoff between Belgium and England in Saint Petersburg on Saturday (1400 GMT kick-off):

Belgium (3-4-3)

Thibaut Courtois; Toby Alderweireld, Vincent Kompany, Jan Vertonghen; Thomas Meunier, Axel Witsel, Youri Tielemans, Nacer Chadli; Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard (capt)

Coach: Roberto Martinez (ESP)

England (3-5-2)

Jordan Pickford; Phil Jones, John Stones, Harry Maguire; Kieran Trippier, Eric Dier, Fabian Delph, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Danny Rose; Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane (capt)

Coach: Gareth Southgate (ENG)

Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRI)

Real Madrid sacked coach Julen Lopetegui three months into his first season in charge after the Spanish giants were beaten by arch rivals Barcelona over the weekend, the European champions said on Monday.

Real have failed to win in La Liga since beating Espanyol on Sept. 22, losing to Sevilla, Alaves, Levante and drawing with Atletico Madrid before Sunday's 5-1 thrashing by Barcelona.

Former player and reserve team boss Santiago Solari has been put in caretaker charge after negotiations between the club and former Chelsea, Italy and Juventus boss Antonio Conte broke down on Monday, the club added.

"The Real Madrid board met today and decided to renounce coach Julen Lopetegui’s contract with the club,” the club said in a statement.

"The board feels there has been a disproportionate difference between the squad Real Madrid possesses... and the results obtained until now."

Lopetegui has now lost two jobs in under five months as he was also fired by the Spanish Football Federation as coach of the national team the day before the World Cup started in June for announcing his move to Real behind the organisation’s back, throwing Spain’s tournament preparations into chaos.

The 52-year-old replaced Zinedine Zidane as Real coach after the Frenchman decided to step down from the role having guided the club to three successive Champions League titles in May.

After the club's all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo also departed for Juventus in July, Lopetegui's stint at Real got off to a difficult start as they were beaten 4-2 by city rivals Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup.

His side then won four of their opening five La Liga games and a 3-0 win over AS Roma in their Champions League opener.

But things started to fall apart when they were thrashed 3-0 by Sevilla last month, a result that started a run of four defeats in five matches in all competitions. During that stint, they also failed to score a goal for eight hours.

Last Tuesday's 2-1 win over Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League provided a brief respite but the team were still booed off the pitch after an unconvincing display.

Sunday's 5-1 hammering proved to be the final straw for Real president Florentino Perez.

During his 10 La Liga games in charge, Lopetegui won four, drew two and lost four, leaving Real floundering in ninth place in the table.

Spanish Federation rules allow clubs 14 days to name a permanent successor, meaning that Argentine Solari, who played for Real between 2000 and 2005, could potentially be in charge of four first team games. 

West Ham United have appointed former Spain and Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui as their new head coach, the Premier League club said on Thursday.

Lopetegui, who previously coached Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League and will take charge of West Ham on July 1, replaces David Moyes, who left the London club this month.

West Ham finished ninth in the standings with 52 points and missed out on qualification for European football next season.

"My ambition as a coach is always to be better and better, to achieve more and bigger aims and to encourage and improve the players, the team, and to compete because football is about this – to compete," Lopetegui, 57, said in a statement.

"I am where I want to be. I am here because I want to be here and for us it was a fantastic day when we closed our agreement here because our commitment is 100 per cent to be here."

Lopetegui, who was at Barcelona and Real Madrid as a player but featured mostly for Logrones and Rayo Vallecano, began coaching in Spain's youth set-up before spells at Vallecano in the Spanish second tier and Portuguese club Porto.

His most successful stint in club management came at Sevilla, where he spent three years in charge, leading the LaLiga outfit to the Europa League title in 2020.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has heaped praise on Barcelona and Spain coaches for taking good care of young talent Lamine Yamal, who is setting the European Championship on fire.

The 17-year-old Barcelona forward has already set a few records as Spain moved into the final against England. Yamal became the youngest player to appear in the Euros and then became the youngest to score in the Euros. Yamal's goal and three assists in the tournament so far has put him forefront for the player of the tournament award.

Scaloni, who will see his Argentina side take on Colombia in the final of Copa America tomorrow, had praise reserved for the coaches of Spain and Barcelona.

"Lamine Yamal is a spectacular emergence, and much credit goes to Xavi [former Barcelona coach] for giving him the opportunity to play at such a young age and wear the Barcelona jersey. And then to Luis [de la Fuente] for giving him the chance with the Spanish national team. It must be one of the most important breakthroughs in recent years," the World Cup-winning coach said.

Scaloni, who himself has been credited with giving opportunity to precocious talents at the expense of some washed-out veterans, cautioned the coaches that Yamal's talent will need continued guidance and nursing.

"And I think the most important thing now is that from here on, they take care of him, that they stay close to him. From what we can see, he is a spectacular young man and is bringing great rewards to Spain," the Argentina coach said.