Spain national under-23 football team

Spain Under-23
Nickname(s) La Rojita (The Little Red One)
La Furia Roja (The Red Fury)
Association Royal Spanish Football Federation
(Real Federación Española de Fútbol – RFEF)
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Luis Milla
Most caps Luis Enrique (14)
Top scorer Kiko (7)
FIFA code ESP
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Yugoslavia 3 – 0 Spain 
(Novi Sad, Yugoslavia; 18 June 1969)
Biggest win
 Spain 5 – 0 Libya 
(El Ejido, Spain; 1 July 2005)
Biggest defeat

 Argentina 4 – 0 Spain 
(Birmingham, United States; 27 July 1996)

Records for competitive matches only.
Olympics
Appearances 4 (first in 1992)
Best result Winners: 1992
Olympic medal record
Men's Football
1920 Antwerp Team[1]
1992 Barcelona Team
2000 Sydney Team
Spain national under-23 football team
Medal record
U-23 Mediterranean Games
2005 Almería, Spain Team

Spain's Olympic football team (also known as Spain Under-23, or Spain U-23) represents Spain in international football competitions in the Olympic Games. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23, except the Olympics allows the men's team up to three overage players. The team is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. Having qualified for four Olympic competitions since 1992, Spain has won one gold medal (1992) and one silver medal (2000), It is after Argentina the second most successful Olympic team.[2]

History

1920–1988 Summer Olympics

Unlike later tournaments, the Summer Olympics used to be represented by senior or amateur teams. Spain's first participation in the Olympics was in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1920. Fourteen teams entered the competition which was organized on a knockout basis. Twelve teams entered the first round, with the six winners joining the host nation (Belgium) and France, in the quarter-finals. Czechoslovakia, participating in their first international tournament, cruised to the final, inflicting heavy defeats on Yugoslavia (who played their first ever international match in the competition), Norway, and France. Belgium beat a talented Spain and then the Netherlands on their way to the final. Belgium won the gold medal by default after Czechoslovakia walked off in protest during the final, unhappy with the performance of the English referee, John Lewis. The Bergvall System was used to determine second and third places. The beaten quarter-finalists played-off, Spain emerged triumphant overcoming Sweden 2–1 and Italy 2–0. Ordinarily, Spain would then have played the beaten finalists, but Czechoslovakia had been disqualified from the tournament. Spain thus advanced straight to the silver medal match against Holland, beaten in the semi-finals by gold medallists Belgium. Spain won 3–1.

1924 was not as successful, Spain bowed out of competition in round 1 after losing to Italy 1–0

At the 1928 Summer Olympics things would go from good to worse. Spain were, potentially, much to be feared. Defeated once since the last Olympic Games tournament their traditional tournament nerves would handicap them here, a key note that would strike throughout the coming years. The unavoidable loss of their experienced captain Pedro Vallana after their first game, though, would cost them dearly. Spain started with a 7–1 win over Mexico, then a 1–1 draw against Italy which would cause the match to go on a reply. There Spain were eventually eliminating with a 1–7 defeat.

Spain would not compete in another Olympic tournament until the 1968 edition held in Mexico. There the team fielded an under-21 amateur squad and reached the quarter-finals, losing only to the host nation.

The team's final two tournament came in 1976 and 1980, where they failed to make it out of the group stage.

Debut and Gold at the 1992 Summer Olympics

The football competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics was the first under-23 competition. Spain were awarded a place at the tournament due to being the host nation. Expectations were high for the Spanish team and they did not disappoint: The team was able to win their very first gold medal after winning their group stage, defeating long-time rivals Italy in the quarter-finals and lastly Poland in the finals, 3–2.

1996 Summer Olympics

Spain were able to qualify for the following Olympics, managed by then coach Javier Clemente. La Rojita failed to repeat its past success and were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual runners-up Argentina.

Silver at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney

Spain qualified for their third consecutive tournament in 2000. The squad, managed by head coach Iñaki Sáez, reached their second final but were not able to take gold, losing to Cameroon. Spain had a 2–0 lead at half time but things changed in the second half when an own goal from Iván Amaya (who also missed a penalty), and a goal from Samuel Eto'o five minutes later, levelled the scores at 2–2. The score was unchanged after extra time and the match was decided via penalty shootout, with Spain losing 5–3.

2012 Summer Olympics

After eight years without participation, Spain qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics after winning the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship under head coach Luis Milla. They were scheduled to play against Japan, Morocco and Honduras in the group stage. Before the start of the tournament, Spain scheduled three friendly matches against teams that would be competing at the Olympics: The first was a 3–1 victory over Egypt, followed by a 2–0 defeat against Senegal and a 1–0 victory over Mexico five days later. At the Olympics, Spain was eliminated in the group stage after falling shockingly 1–0 to Japan and a controversial loss to Honduras. This was followed by a 0–0 draw to Morocco, forcing Spain's exit from the tournament at the group stage for the first time, and without scoring a single goal. Luis Milla was sacked from both the under-23 and under-21 teams the following day and replaced by Julen Lopetegui.

Competitive Record

UEFA European Under-23 Challenge Cup

This was competed for on a basis similar to a boxing title belt. The holders played a randomly chosen opponent for the championship.

DateWinnersRunners-upVenue
18 June 1969 Yugoslavia SpainNovi Sad, Yugoslavia

UEFA European Under-23 Championship Record

Year Round GP W D L GS GA
1972Qualifying Stage201123
1974Did Not Enter
1976
Total0/3201123

Olympic Games

A gold background color indicates that Spain won the tournament.

Summer Olympic record
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA Squad
Spain 1992 Champions 1st 6 6 0 0 14 2 Squad
United States 1996 Quarter-Finals 5th 4 2 1 1 5 7 Squad
Australia 2000 Runners-Up 2nd 6 4 1 1 12 6 Squad
Greece 2004Did Not Qualify
China 2008
United Kingdom 2012 Group Stage 14th 3 0 1 2 0 2 Squad
Brazil 2016Did Not Qualify
Total4/62 Medals1912343117-

*Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Players

Top appearances

Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-23 Caps
1Luis EnriqueReal Madrid1991–199214
2Mikel LasaReal Sociedad, Real Madrid1991–199213
3AbelardoSporting Gijón1991–199212
3Pep GuardiolaBarcelona1991–199212
3KikoCádiz1991–199212
3Roberto SolozábalAtlético Madrid1991–199212
7AlfonsoReal Madrid1991–199211
7Paco SolerMallorca1991–199211
9Joaquín AlonsoSporting Gijón1979–19828
9Juan Manuel AsensiElche, Barcelona1969–19718
9Rafael BergesCórdoba, Tenerife1991–19928
9ToniFigueres19928
9Antonio PinillaBarcelona, Mallorca1991–19928

Note: Club(s) represents the permanent clubs during the player's time in the Under-23s.

Top goalscorers

Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-23 Goals
1KikoCádiz1991–19927
2AlfonsoReal Madrid1991–19926
3AbelardoSporting Gijón1991–19925
4Ramón VázquezSevilla1987–19884
5GabriBarcelona20003
5Luis EnriqueReal Madrid1991–19923
5Carles RexachBarcelona1967–19703
5José MariMilan20003
5VaváElche19673

Note: Club(s) represents the permanent clubs during the player's time in the Under-23s.

Recent results

Date Competition Location Opponent Result Scorers

Current squad

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK David de Gea (1990-11-07) 7 November 1990 5 0 England Manchester United
18 1GK Diego Mariño (1990-05-09) 9 May 1990 3 0 Spain Sporting Gijón
2 2DF César Azpilicueta (1989-08-28) 28 August 1989 4 0 England Chelsea
3 2DF Álvaro Domínguez (1989-05-15) 15 May 1989 5 0 Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach
5 2DF Iñigo Martínez (1991-05-17) 17 May 1991 4 0 Spain Real Sociedad
6 2DF Jordi Alba (1989-03-21) 21 March 1989 4 0 Spain Barcelona
13 2DF Alberto Botía (1989-01-27) 27 January 1989 4 0 Greece Olympiacos
12 2DF Martín Montoya (1991-04-14) 14 April 1991 5 0 Spain Real Betis
4 3MF Javi Martínez* (captain) (1988-09-02) 2 September 1988 4 1 Germany Bayern Munich
8 3MF Iker Muniain (1992-12-19) 19 December 1992 3 0 Spain Athletic Bilbao
10 3MF Juan Mata* (1988-04-28) 28 April 1988 4 0 England Manchester United
11 3MF Koke (1992-01-08) 8 January 1992 6 1 Spain Atlético Madrid
14 3MF Oriol Romeu (1991-09-24) 24 September 1991 5 0 England Southampton
15 3MF Isco (1992-04-21) 21 April 1992 5 0 Spain Real Madrid
17 3MF Ander Herrera (1989-09-14) 14 September 1989 5 0 England Manchester United
7 4FW Adrián* (1988-01-08) 8 January 1988 5 0 Spain Villarreal
9 4FW Rodrigo (1991-03-06) 6 March 1991 4 0 Spain Valencia
16 4FW Cristian Tello (1991-08-11) 11 August 1991 6 0 Spain Barcelona

Note: Players marked with a * are the three overage players called up as reinforcements

See also

References

  1. ↑ Since 1992, squads for Football at the Summer Olympics have been restricted to three players over the age of 23. The achievements of such teams are not usually included in the statistics of the international team.
  2. ↑ oyit
  3. ↑ Convocatoria oficial para la fase de preparación y los Juegos Olímpicos de Londres 2012; RFEF (Spanish)
  4. ↑ Baja y alta en la Selección Nacional con vistas a los Juegos de Londres; RFEF (Spanish)
  5. ↑ Intensidad y acierto en la sesión de trabajo de la Selección; RFEF (Spanish)
  6. ↑ Gratitud en la despedida a los jugadores que no estarán en Londres; RFEF (Spanish)
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