Spain History

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Description

The national football team of Spain, nicknamed La Furia Roja or the Red Fury and La Seleccion La Roja, is considered as the world’s greatest underachiever in the sport of football. The team has a reputation of starting off on a high note and eventually struggling in the hands of the opponents. In spite of having a wonderful history in football and possessing magnificent talent, the Spanish team has only 3 major victories to its credit. These victories include the 1964 European Championship, which Spain hosted; gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics, which Spain hosted; and the 1999 World Youth Championship in Nigeria.


 

1920

The first international match played by Spain was the 1920 Olympics Games in Belgium, where it won the silver medal. In 1921 Spain played its first home international match, defeating Belgium 2-0. In 1929, Spain became the first non-British team to defeat England by beating them 4-3 in a friendly match in Madrid.


 

The most players

The most prominent players in Spain’s football history are Raul Gonzalez Blanco, Paulino Alcantara, Amancio Amaro, Luis Arconada, Estanislao Basora, Emilio Butragueno, Jose Antonio Camacho, Francisco Gento, Rafael Gordillo, Pep Guardiola, Vicente Engonga, Luis Enrique, Ferenc Puskas, Jacinto Quincoces, Luis Regueiro, Luis Suarez, Ricardo Zamora, Telmo "Zarra", Andoni Zubizarreta, and Antonio Puerta.

Meanwhile, the top goal scorers for Spain as of 6 June, 2007 have been Raul with 44 goals, Fernando Hierro with 29 goals, Fernando Morientes with 27 goals, Emilio Butragueno with 26 goals, Alfredo Di Stefano with 23 goals, Julio Salinas with 23 goals, Michel with 21 goals, and Telmo Zarraonaindia 20 goals.

 

 
 
La Furia Ruja
 
Created on: 5/18/2008
 
By: ob1
 
Tags:
Spain,  
 
 



 

The first division

While the first division of Spanish football includes 20 teams, the second division contains 22 teams. As against the conventional naming of the divisions in other countries, Spain calls its second division 2A, the third division 2B, and the fourth division as division 3. Further, transfers between teams are limited in Spain, unlike in England. Spanish and European Union players are not allowed to switch between teams in the same division during a season. Some of the prominent Spanish teams are Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla, and Valencia.

The Real Federacion Espanola de Futbol organizes cup competitions such as Copa del Rey, Copa de la Liga, Supercopa de Espana, Copa Federacion, Copa de Campeones Juvenil, and Copa del Rey Juvenil.
 



 

World Cup

 
 
Spain Goals World Cup 2006
 
Created on: 5/18/2008
 
By: ob1
 
Tags:
Spain,  
 
 


The national football team of Spain is governed by the Real Federacion Espanola de Futbol, which also organizes La Liga and the Copa del Rey. Its traditional uniform was a red jersey with yellow trim with blue shorts and blue socks. This was later changed to a gold jersey. The team’s performance at the FIFA World Cup has been as follows:

• 1930 – Did not enter
• 1934 – Quarterfinal
• 1938 – Did not enter
• 1950 – 4th place
• 1954 – Did not qualify
• 1958 – Did not qualify
• 1962 – 1st round
• 1966 – 1st round
• 1970 – Did not qualify
• 1974 – Did not qualify
• 1978 – 1st round
• 1982 – 2nd round
• 1986 – Quarterfinal
• 1990 – 16th round
• 1994 – Quarterfinal
• 1998 – 1st round
• 2002 – Quarterfinal
• 2006 – 16th round
 



 

European Championship

Similarly, Spain’s record in the other major international event, the European Championship is:

• 1960 – Did not qualify
• 1964 – Winners
• 1968 – Did not qualify
• 1972 – Did not qualify
• 1976 – Did not qualify
• 1980 – 1st round
• 1984 – Runner-up
• 1988 – 1st round
• 1992 – Did not qualify
• 1996 – Quarterfinal
• 2000 – Quarterfinal
• 2004 – 1st round
• 2008 – Winners



 

Euro 2008 Champions

Spain clinched the European Championship crown in 2008 after having beaten Germany 1-0 in the final.

Spain qualified for the tournament with 28 points out of a possible 36, and were seeded 12th for the actual competition. The qualifying round began with a 4-0 victory against Liechtenstein on 2 September, 2006. This victory was followed by two losses – a 2-3 loss to Northern Ireland on 6 September, 2006 and a 2-0 loss to Sweden on 7 October, 2006. However, a 2-1 win against Denmark on 24 March 2007, a 1-0 win against Iceland on 28 March, 2007, and a 2-0 win against Liechtenstein on 6 June, 2007 put Spain back on track at Euro 2008. Although in the subsequent match there was a 1-1 draw against Iceland, Spain’s Andres Iniesta brought victory with a late goal. Following this, Xavi and Torres led Spain to a 2-0 win against Latvia, while the following 3-1 win against Denmark qualified Spain for the final round of the European Championship. On 18 November, 2007 Spain defeated Sweden 3-0 and qualified for Euro 2008. The three goals in the qualifying match were scored by Joan Capdevila, Andres Iniesta, and Sergio Ramos.

They were drawn in Group D, with Sweden, Russia and reigning Champions Greece. Spain won all of their group games and finished top, with David Villa scoring the only hat-trick of the competition in the 4–1 defeat of Russia.

Italy were the opponents in the quarter-final match and the game finished 0–0. The game went to penalties following a goalless period of extra-time. Iker Casillas saved two penalties as Spain won the shoot-out 4–2. This was the first time that Spain had beaten Italy in a completive match since 1922.

Spain met Russia again in the semi-final, once again beating them, this time 3-0. In the final, Fernando Torres goal in the 33rd minute was enough to ensure that Spain secured their first major title in 44 years. Spain's total of 12 goals in the tournament made them the top scoring team and striker David Villa finished as the top scorer with four goals. Xavi was awarded the player of the tournament.

 
 
Torres vs Germany
 
Created on: 7/2/2008
 
By: dank
 
Tags
Spain,  
 

Following the success, Spain took first position in the FIFA ranking of national football teams.


Squad

NamePositionGrade FansGroups
Álvaro Negredo Sánchez
Offense
54
0
Fernando Llorente Torres
Offense
64
0
José Manuel Reina Páez
Goal
358
0
David Josué Jiménez Silva
Midfield
468
0
Álvaro Arbeloa Coca
Defense
111
0
Xabier Alonso Olana
Midfield
615
0
Iker Casillas Fernández
Goal
6269
0
David Villa Sánchez
Offense
3095
0
Raúl Albiol Tortajada
Defense
128
0
Sergio Busquets i Burgos
Midfield
116
0
Last edited by:
On: August 29, 2009
Version: 17