Spain have sacked 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup-winning manager, Jorge Vilda, 16 days after leading La Roja to glory.
Montse Tome, who was assistant manager to Vilda, has been appointed as his successor, and she has made history.
The 41-year-old becomes the first woman to manage Spain, and her first game handling the world champions will be against Sweden on September 22, 2023.
La Roja’s remarkable outing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup has been overshadowed by Luis Rubiales kissing attacker Jennifer Hermoso.
Rubiales has maintained that the kiss was consensual, while Hermoso has gone the opposite direction.
The 46-year-old has refused to step down as president of Spain, but he has been provisionally suspended by FIFA for 90 days.
Spain sack Jorge Vilda
Via a statement, the Spanish Football Federation didn’t give any reason whatsoever for firing Jorge Vilda. However, they expressed their gratitude to the Spaniard for his contribution to the national team.
An excerpt from the statement reads: “The RFEF would like to express its gratitude to Jorge Vilda for the services provided, for his professionalism and dedication during all these years, wishing him the best successes in the future.”
Jorge Vilda also led Spain to the U17 European Championship on two occasions, and one U19 European Championship.
The Spanish national women’s team are currently ranked 2nd in the world, and this can be attributed to the immense impact Vilda had on the team.
The 42-year-old was appointed manager of Spain in 2015, and he took charge of La Roja in 108 games.
Things almost completely turned south for Jorge Vilda with the world champions, when the RFEF revealed in a statement that 15 players claimed that they would not play under his tutelage.
They stressed that they would represent Spain except “significant” issues over their “emotional state” and “health” were sorted.
Meanwhile, those 15 players squashed claims that they had requested for Jorge Vilda to be dismissed, but tensions continued to develop.
The players expressed concerns over the training style of Vilda and the lack of adequate preparation.
Out of those 15 players, only three returned to Spain’s national team, and they were helpful to their Women’s World Cup triumph.
Vilda’s stats with Spain
The 45-year-old took charge of Spain for 108 games, winning an impressive 75 matches in total.
Furthermore, Jorge Vilda has been considered a close ally of Luis Rubiales, and he was seen after their World Cup triumph applauding Rubiales at the RFEF’s annual general assembly.
The majority of Vilda’s coaching crew resigned and 81 players have also insisted that they would not represent Spain in future engagements.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed manager, Montse Tome, is a former midfielder, who played for several teams; including; Barcelona, and Levante.
Tome also represented La Roja, making 4 appearances from 2003 to 2005, and she will be hoping to contribute her quota to the development of Spanish football.
