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Euro 2004 Team Profile: Spain

Spain - A Superpower After All:
Why Don't They Get The Credit They Deserve?

Ozren Podnar

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The Spanish national team is no good, we have been repeatedy told. They always fall short of expectations. They usually disappoint. They "never win anything". Their football league is so strong while their national team - well, not so strong. If Real Madrid has won nine European Champions' titles, three Intercontinental Cups and two UEFA Cups wouldn't it be logical for the national team to have been European champions three or four times and World champions at least once?

What mindless criticism, what an injust treatment of one of the most successful footballing countries in the world!

Yes, it's true that the Spanish trophy room, at the senior international level, is more modest than the "palmares" of the clubs from the same country. And, yes, Spain indeed wins less frequently than Germany, Brazil, Argentina and recently France. But does Holland win more often? How many honours has the Italian full national team won since 1982? Has England been more successful than Spain in the last 38 years?

"La Furia" has been given a bad press due to the unreasonable comparison between Spain on one hand and Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Deportivo on the other. Has the glamour of the world's top club (Real) and the world's most passionately loved club (Barcelona) blinded soccer writers so much as to make them expect equal achievements from a totally different organization (the Spanish FA) operating under totally different conditions (a strict quota of zero foreigners) just because of its geographical proximity to the aforementioned clubs?

Spain, in fact, has been able to create excellent national teams for decades despite Spanish football's heavy emphasis on club sides and the Spaniards' regional and local sentiments easily overriding their national identity.

One reason why the "furias rojas" have not been even more successful is the tremendously difficult football league, la Primera Division, which wears and tears the legs (and brains) of the players involved, while the other major factor is the large percentage of foreign stars in every single club of the Primera Division.

What makes the Spanish club sides so powerful in European competitions is the presence of some of the world's greatest footballers in the domestic league.

Whether we talk of Real Madrid (Zidane, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Figo, Beckham), Barcelona (Ronaldinho, Kluivert, Saviola, Motta, Cocu), Valencia (Ayala, Aimar, Carboni) or Deportivo (Pandiani, Schurrer, Mauro Silva, Naybet), the success of the top Spanish teams bears a deep foreign seal.

This feature frequently stands in the way of national players whose peers in England or France are allowed to prosper at an earlier age. Another damning factor, rarely mentioned, is that Spain is the smallest of the five biggest European footballing nations, behind Germany, France, Italy and England in terms of population size. This pits the smaller pool of available domestic players against unlimited funds for the acquisition of foreign signings, and the consequence is that the top-scorer (Ronaldo) and the best playmaker (Zidane) of the Spanish League are foreigners.

Even though it is true that Espana has to its name only one European championship, won in 1964 before general Franco's eyes, their amazing qualifying record is worth at least another gold medal for consistency.

Yes, since the unsuccessful 1974 World Cup qualifying campaign ended with an epic 0-1 loss to Yugoslavia in the Frankfurt playoffs, Spain has failed only once to progress beyond the group stage in qualifications for World Cups and European Championships. That one time was in 1991, when they were stopped by Michel Platini's France on the way to Euro '92 in Sweden. Besides the one other time when Spain qualified directly, for the 1982 World Cup they hosted, on 13 other occasions the Reds went through on the merit of their play. Only Germany, with a 100% record, has been better in that aspect.

Spain may not be winning titles, but they have always been among the very best. Since 1976 they have reached the last eight of the European championships on six occasions, and once, in 1984, they were beaten finalists. On the world stage three quarterfinals in the past five World Cups is no mean feat either. In the Olympic tournaments Spain has been even more successful, capturing the gold in Barcelona 1992 and the silver in Sydney 2000.

The Europeans Have It Harder

Spain would certainly have more chances of winning a continental crown if it were allowed to take part... in the South American championship!

In comparison with European nations, their South American counterparts celebrate their continental football championships every two years. The higher frequency of footballing events on the other side of the Atlantic is not a reason for a lower quality or lesser public interest for the competition, but the parallel South American World Cup qualifiers are.

While the European national teams can fully concentrate on their continental championship once the World Cup is over, the South Americans' ludicrous qualification formula (all countries in one group playing a full-blown league competition lasting for almost three years) means that many nations see the Sudamericano as a second-rate show.

On one occasion, Argentina will come up with a second XI, on another occasion Brazil will field their reserves and so on. The result? Colombia can currently boast of being the continental champions, something Spain can only dream of. The South American crown obviously bears far, far less weight then the first place at an European championship, but still some people talk about Spain as being inferior.

Spain: The Queen Of Qualifiers

In the past five qualifying cycles for the World Cup and European championships, Spain has arisen as the top European power. Its superiority is clear be it according to the number of points achieved, or by the percentage of points. Over the last decade, Spain has won 116 points in the qualifiers, four more than the Czech Republic. It is also on top in the percentage ratings, with 84%, ahead of France. As if that were not enough, Spain also has recorded the most wins and the least defeats among all countries that have taken part in all five qualifying stages. This balance shows that Spain loses one qualifying game - every five years! And yet, the label of underachievers stands firmly attached to the red shirts of the "furias rojas".

SUCCESS IN QUALIFIERS 1994-2003

RANKING BY POINTS WON

1. Spain 46 36 8 2 116 (84%)
2. Czech Rep. 50 35 7 8 112 (75%)
3. Germany 46 32 11 3 107 (77%)
4. Romania 48 31 11 6 104 (72%)
5. Russia 50 31 11 8 104 (70%)
6. Scotland 48 29 12 7 99 (68.7%)
7. Italy 44 28 13 3 97 (73%)
8. Sweden 44 29 8 7 95 (72%
9. Croatia 46 27 14 5 95 (68,8%)
10. Denmark 46 27 14 5 95 (68.8%)
11. Turkey 48 27 14 7 95 (65.5%)

(Columns indicate: games played, wins, draws, losses, total points on basis of 3 points for a win)

RANKING BY PERCENTAGE

1. Spain 84% (116 points).
2. France 77.3% (65 points).
3. Germany 77% (107 points).
4. Czechia 75% (112 Points).
5. Portugal 74% (89 points).
6. Italy 73% (97 points).
7. Romania 72% (104 points).
8. Sweden 72% (95 points).
9. Holland. 71,7% (84 points).
10. England 70.5% (72 points).

How Spain Qualified

Runners-up behind Greece in Group 6 defeating Norway in the play-offs.

Road to Portugal

Greece (won 0-2 away, lost 0-1 home)
Ukraine (drew 2-2 away, won 2-1 home)
N. Ireland (drew 0-0 away, won 4-0 home)
Armenia (won 0-4 away, won 3-0 home)

Prediction

Should qualify from Group A which includes hosts Portugal, Greece and Russia. We fancy them as runners-up to surprise package Greece.
Spain's odds to win Euro 2004

Euro 2004 Squad

The Squad (Official Squad List)

Goalkeepers
Santiago Cañizares (Valencia)
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Daniel Aranzubia (Athletic Bilbao)
Defenders
Raúl Bravo (Real Madrid)
Joan Capdevila (Deportivo Coruna)
Cesar (Deportivo Coruna)
Gabri (Barcelona)
Iván Helguera (Real Madrid)
Juanito (Betis)
Carlos Marchena (Valencia)
Carles Puyol (Barcelona)
Midfielders
David Albelda (Valencia)
Xabi Alonso (Real Sociedad)
Rubén Baraja (Valencia)
Xavi Hernández (Barcelona)
Joaquin Sánchez (Real Betis)
Juan Carlos Valeron (Deportivo Coruna)
Vicente Rodreguez (Valencia)
Forwards
Joseba Etxeberria (Athletic Bilbao)
Raul González (Real Madrid)
Guti Alberto Luque (Deportivo Coruna)
Fernando Morientes (Monaco)
Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid)

Wales v N. Ireland World Cup Qualifier 2004

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