Tome expected to keep Spain job: Federation chief 'didn't keep his word'

MADRID (AP) — Montse Tome had been expecting to keep her job as coach of Spain's women's national team after leading it to the final of the European Championship last month and says she doesn't know why her contract wasn't extended.

"Things happen in soccer that you don't expect," Tome said in an interview with Spanish radio Cadena Ser.

The Spanish soccer federation announced Monday that it was not extending Tome's contract and will replace her with former player Sonia Bermudez. The announcement came two weeks after Spain lost the Euro 2025 final to England in a penalty shootout.

Tome, who took over the job after Spain won the 2023 World Cup, also led Spain to the title of the inaugural Women's Nations League last year.

Tome said she was taken by surprise with the federation's decision to not extend her contract that expires at the end of the month.

She said federation president Rafael Louzan had told her that she would remain in charge if Spain did well at Euro 2025.

"He has always shown a lot of confidence in me, but I'm a little disappointed about how everything was handled. He didn't keep his word about the continuity. I felt that he was happy with my work," Tome said. "It was hard to understand everything that happened since the final. It's understandable that the federation wants to go into a new direction, but that message wasn't really clear for me. They had given me a different impression."

Goodbye messages

Tome said she was not bothered by not receiving goodbye messages from her players on social media.

"I received many messages from them," she said. "I felt very respected by everyone. I'm not concerned about whether they posted them online or not."

The decision to replace Tome — the first women to coach the senior women's team in Spain — was made by the federation's board members.

She had been an assistant to former coach Jorge Vilda during the World Cup and was promoted in the fallout of former federation president Luis Rubiales' nonconsensual kiss of player Jenni Hermoso.

Tome had been criticized by some for not including Hermoso in recent call-ups, but she always maintained it was a decision based on sporting performances.

"I don't want to think it had anything to do with it," Tome said. "Since I was appointed, they allowed me to make decisions based on my sporting criteria. No one told me to bring in this player or another. I've never had to send the list of players to a president."

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer