Vicente del Bosque steps down as Spain coach

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said he was stepping down from the job just three days after the defending champions were knocked out of Euro 2016 by Italy at the finals in France.

“Of course, I have no intention of continuing,” he said in an interview with Radio Nacional de Espana on Thursday. “It was a decision I had taken beforehand.”

Spain, who were trying to win their third straight European Championship, lost 2-0 to Italy in the last 16 on Monday.

Joaquin Caparros and Paco Jemez have both already declared their intention to succeed del Bosque.

Former Sevilla coach Caparros and Jemez, who joined La Liga side Granada on a three-year contract earlier this month, are among the candidates to take charge of the national team.

“Of course I would be thrilled to be the next Spain coach just like any other coach,” Caparros told Cadena Ser radio.

Del Bosque took the Spain reins after the team’s Euro 2008 triumph and led the side to glory at the 2010 World Cup and at Euro 2012, but Spain failed to make it out of the group stage at the 2014 World Cup and then struggled this summer.

Caparros coached Sevilla for 226 games from 2000 until 2005 to become the club’s longest serving manager. The 60-year-old has been out of a job since being dismissed by Granada in January 2015. Asked if he would miss club coaching, Caparros said: “After 14 years and 500 games in the Primera Division, it would be enough for me.”

Jemez, a fan favourite to replace Del Bosque in a poll carried out by sports daily Marca, said to Cadena Ser: “The national team only comes once in a lifetime and you either take it or it’s over.”

Jemez revealed he has a “release clause” in his contract with Granada in the event he is offered the Spain coaching position. Jemez, 46, made a name for himself when leading Rayo Vallecano to eighth place in the 2012-13 La Liga campaign - the best finish in club history.

He left Rayo this summer after the club was relegated to the Segunda Liga but was hired by Granada.