Spain national football team
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| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s Football | |||
| Silver | 1920 Antwerp | Team | |
| Gold | 1992 Barcelona | Team | |
| Silver | 2000 Sydney | Team | |
The Spain national football team, commonly referred to as la Selección (Spanish for "The Selection"), is the national football team of Spain and is controlled by the Real Federación Española de Fútbol.
Spain has a reputation for underachievement in the FIFA World Cup, with their best finish being fourth place in 1950 despite often being among the pre-tournament favorites. They often start well, but as the tournament progresses, they seem to struggle considerably. Their current FIFA ranking is 10th. They did win the gold medal when they hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and in the 1999 World Youth Championship in Nigeria.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early Years
Spain made their international debut in 1920 at the Olympic Games in Belgium and came away with the silver medal. They played their first home international in 1921, beating Belgium 2-0 in Bilbao. They also became the first non-British side to beat England when they won a friendly in Madrid 4-3 in 1929.
[edit] European Champions
In 1962 José Villalonga was appointed coach of Spain and in 1964 they won the European Championship. With a squad that included Luis Suárez, Francisco Gento, Josep Fusté and José Ángel Iribar, Spain beat Romania, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the qualifying rounds before hosting the semi-finals and final. In the semi-final Spain beat Hungary 2-1. In the final beat the USSR 2-1 in front of a crowd of 125,000 at the Bernabéu. Jesus María Pereda put Spain ahead after just six minutes but they needed a late Marcelino Martínez header to win it after Galimzian Khusainov equalised with a free-kick.
[edit] Euro 2004
At Euro 2004, Spain were drawn into group A with Portugal, Russia and Greece. The Spanish team were touted as heavy favorites for the 2004 crown by the European media. They were also expected heavy favorites to qualify from their group. On June 12th, Spain expectedly defeated Russia, 1-0. Four days later Spain faced Greece. Determined to win, Spain led the match until Greece scored an equalizer and the match ended 1-1. In their last game against Portugal, Spain needed to draw to qualify for the quarterfinals. However a goal from Nuno Gomes faded Spain's hopes of advancing. The same day Greece were defeated 2-1 by Russia but moved ahead to claim second place on goal difference. As a result Spain were eliminated from Euro 2004. Portugal and Greece both went all the way to the final in which Greece beat Portugal to claim the title.
[edit] 2006 World Cup
Spain won their opening game of group H over Ukraine in a comfortable 4-0 result. 2 goals from David Villa and one each for Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso made up Spain's 4. The first penalty of the tournament was awarded after Vladislav Vaschuk was sent off for pulling on Torres. Spain won their second game against Tunisia 3-1. A goal in the 8th minute through Jawhar Mnari put Tunisia ahead, but Spain finally scored through Raúl in the 71st min and Fernando Torres in the 76th min. Fernando Torres scored from the penalty spot in injury time to get his second goal in the game. Spain beat Saudi Arabia by 1-0 in Kaiserslautern on the 23 June. However Spain lost 3-1 in the Round of 16 to France. Spain and Brazil share the 2006 FIFA Fair Play Award.
[edit] Euro 2008 Qualifiers
Spain started its qualifying round on September 2, 2006 for Euro 2008 by beating Liechtenstein 4-0 in Badajoz. But, then were shockingly upset by Northern Ireland 3-2 in Belfast on September 6, 2006. A second straight defeat - a 2-0 loss to Sweden - followed on October 7, 2006.
[edit] World Cup record
- 1930 - Did not enter
- 1934 - Quarterfinals
- 1938 - Withdrew due to civil war
- 1950 - Semifinals (Fourth place)
- 1954 - Did not qualify
- 1958 - Did not qualify
- 1962 - Round 1
- 1966 - Round 1
- 1970 - Did not qualify
- 1974 - Did not qualify
- 1978 - Round 1
- 1982 - Round 2
- 1986 - Quarterfinals
- 1990 - Round 2
- 1994 - Quarterfinals
- 1998 - Round 1
- 2002 - Quarterfinals
- 2006 - Round 2
[edit] European Championship record
- 1960 - Withdrew during Quarterfinals
- 1964 - Champions
- 1968 to 1976 - Did not qualify
- 1980 - Round 1
- 1984 - Runners-up
- 1988 - Round 1
- 1992 - Did not qualify
- 1996 - Quarterfinals
- 2000 - Quarterfinals
- 2004 - Round 1
[edit] Recent results and forthcoming fixtures
- Friendlies:
- Iceland 0-0 Spain, August 16
- Spain 2-1 Argentina, October 11
- Spain 0-1 Romania, November 15
- England vs Spain, February 7, 2007
- Euro 2008 Qualifying Group F:
- Spain 4-0 Liechtenstein, September 2
- Northern Ireland 3-2 Spain, September 6
- Sweden 2-0 Spain, October 7
- Spain v Denmark, March 24, 2007
- Spain v Iceland, March 28
- Latvia v Spain, June 2
- Liechtenstein v Spain, June 6
- Iceland v Spain, September 8
- Spain v Latvia, September 12
- Denmark v Spain, October 13
- Spain v Sweden, November 17
- Spain v Northern Ireland, November 21
[edit] Current squad
The following players named for friendly match against Romania on 15 November2006 [1].
Caps and goals as of 15 November2006, included against Romania.
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- Luis García and Andrés Iniesta withdrew due to injury
[edit] Recent call-up
The following players have all recently been called up to the Spain squad. Bracket shows last call-up time.
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- Asier del Horno originally was called up for the World Cup. However, due to an ankle injury suffered in preparation for World Cup, he was replaced by Mariano Pernía on 4 June2006.[2]
[edit] 2006 World Cup squad
See 2006 FIFA World Cup squads - Spain
[edit] Players
[edit] Notable past players
- Paulino Alcántara (also played for the Philippines)
- Amancio Amaro
- Luis Arconada
- Estanislao Basora
- Emilio Butragueño
- José Antonio Camacho
- Alfredo Di Stéfano (also played for Argentina and Colombia)
- Agustín Gaínza
- Francisco Gento
- Rafael Gordillo
- Pep Guardiola
- Fernando Hierro
- José Ángel Iribar
- Ladislao Kubala (also played for Hungary and Czechoslovakia)
- Luis Enrique
- Míchel
- Miguel Ángel Nadal
- Alfonso Pérez Muñoz
- José Martínez "Pirri"
- Ferenc Puskás (also played for Hungary)
- Jacinto Quincoces
- Enrique Castro "Quini"
- Antoni Ramallets
- Luis Regueiro
- Josep Samitier
- José Santamaría (also played for Uruguay)
- Jesús María Satrústegui
- Luis Suarez
- Ricardo Zamora
- Telmo "Zarra"
- Andoni Zubizarreta
[edit] Most capped Spain players
As of November 15, 2006, the ten players with the most caps for Spain are:
| # | Name | Career | Caps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andoni Zubizarreta | 1985-1998 | 126 | 100 (Conceded) |
| 2 | Raúl | 1996- | 102 | 44 |
| 3 | Fernando Hierro | 1989-2002 | 89 | 29 |
| 4 | José Antonio Camacho | 1975-1988 | 81 | 0 |
| 5 | Rafael Gordillo | 1978-1988 | 75 | 3 |
| 6 | Emilio Butragueño | 1984-1992 | 69 | 26 |
| 7 | Luis Arconada | 1977-1985 | 68 | 62 (Conceded) |
| 8 | Míchel | 1985-1992 | 66 | 21 |
| 9 | Íker Casillas | 2000- | 65 | 41 (Conceded) |
| 10 | Luis Enrique | 1991-2002 | 62 | 12 |
| = | Miguel Ángel Nadal | 1991-2002 | 62 | 3 |
[edit] Top Spain goalscorers
As of November 15, 2006, the ten players with the most goals for Spain are:
| # | Player | Career | Goals (Caps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raúl | 1996- | 44 (102) |
| 2 | Fernando Hierro | 1989-2002 | 29 (89) |
| 3 | Fernando Morientes | 1998- | 26 (44) |
| = | Emilio Butragueño | 1984-1992 | 26 (89) |
| 5 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | 1957-1961 | 23 (31) |
| 6 | Julio Salinas | 1986-1996 | 23 (56) |
| 7 | Míchel | 1985-1992 | 21 (66) |
| 8 | Telmo Zarraonaindía | 1945-1951 | 20 (20) |
| 9 | Isidro Lángara | 1932-1936 | 17 (12) |
| 10 | Luis Regueiro | 1927-1936 | 16 (25) |
| = | Pirri | 1966-1978 | 16 (41) |
| 12 | Santillana | 1975-1985 | 15 (56) |
| 13 | Luis Suárez | 1957-1972 | 14 (23) |
| == | Fernando Torres | 2004- | 14 (39) |
| 15 | Estanislao Basora | 1949-1957 | 13 (22) |
| = | Julen Guerrero | 1993- | 13 (41) |
| 17 | Joseba Etxeberría | 1997- | 12 (53) |
| = | Luis Enrique | 1991-2002 | 12 (62) |
| 19 | Ladislao Kubala | 1953-1961 | 11 (19) |
| = | Alfonso Pérez | 1992-2000 | 11 (38) |
| = | Amancio Amaro | 1962-1974 | 11 (42) |
[edit] Selected Managers
- Francisco Bru, 1920
- Pedro Parages, 1923-1924
- Paulino Alcántara,1951
- Ricardo Zamora, 1952
- Pedro Escartín Morán, 1952-1961
- Helenio Herrera, 1959-1962
- José Villalonga, 1962-1966
- Domingo Balmanya, 1966-1968
- Luis Molowny, 1969
- Miguel Muñoz, 1969, 1982-1988
- Ladislao Kubala, 1969-1980
- José Santamaria, 1980-1982
- Luis Suárez, 1988-1991
- Javier Clemente, 1992-1998
- José Antonio Camacho, 1998-2002
- Iñaki Sáez, 2002-2004
- Luis Aragonés, 2004-present
- see also List of Spain national football team managers and Cat:Spain national football team managers
[edit] External links
- RFEF site
- RSSSF archive of results 1920-
- RSSSF archive of player records
- The confirmation of Luis Aragonés' preliminary squad
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2006 FIFA World Cup finalists
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