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Spain Soccer Team General Information
Country - Spain
Capital City - Madrid
Continent - Europe
Manager - Luis Aragones
Captain - Raul Gonzalez Blanco
Star Man - Raul
Spain Soccer Team History
Founded 1913
Affiliated 1904
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WC participations 11 (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002)
WC honours 4th place (1950)
Continental Titles European champions
First International: Spain 2 - 0 Belgium (Bilbao, Spain; 7 October 1921)
Largest win: Spain 13 - 0 Bulgaria (Madrid, Spain; 21 May 1933)
Worst defeat: Italy 7 - 1 Spain (Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4 June 1928) England 7 - 1 Spain (London, England; 9 December 1931)
European Championship
Appearances: 7 (First in 1964) Best result Winners, 1964
World Cup Record:
| Year | Host | Performance |
| 1930 | Uruguay | - |
| 1934 | Italy | Quarter final Play Off |
| 1938 | France | - |
| 1950 | Brazil | Fourth place |
| 1954 | Switzerland | - |
| 1958 | Sweden | - |
| 1962 | Chile | Fourth, Group Three |
| 1966 | England | Third, Group Two |
| 1970 | Mexico | - |
| 1974 | West Germany | - |
| 1978 | Argentina | Third, Group Three |
| 1982 | Spain | Second Group phase |
| 1986 | Mexico | Quarter finals |
| 1990 | Italy | Second Round (last 16) |
| 1994 | U.S.A. | Quarter finals |
| 1998 | France | Third, Group D |
| 2002 | S.Korea/Japan | Quarter finals |
| 2006 | Germany | in Group H with Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia |
SPAIN Football Team for 2006 FIFA World Cup
Coach:
Luis Aragones
Goalkeepers:
Iker Casillas, Santiago Canizares, Jose Manuel Reina.
Defenders:
Michel Salgado, Asier Del Horno, Carlos Marchena, Carlos Puyol, Guerrero Antonio Lopez, Sergio Ramos, Gutierrez Juanito, Ibanez Pablo.
Midfielders:
David Albelda, Hernandez Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Marcos Senna, Sanchez Joaquin, Cesc Fabregas.
Forwards:
Gonzalez Raul, Fernando Torres, Jose Antonio Reyes, Sanz Luis Garcia, David Villa.
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Spain Statistics | in Group H with Ukraine, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia |
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The team is known as 'La Furia'
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| Jersey No. | Name of the Player |
| 1 | Iker Casillas |
| 2 | Michel Salgado |
| 3 | Asier Del Horno |
| 4 | Carlos Marchena |
| 5 | Carlos Puyol |
| 6 | David Albelda |
| 7 | Gonzalez Raul |
| 8 | Hernandez Xavi |
| 9 | Fernando Torres |
| 10 | Jose Antonio Reyes |
| 11 | Sanz Luis Garcia |
| 12 | Guerrero Antonio Lopez |
| 13 | Andres Iniesta |
| 14 | Xabi Alonso |
| 15 | Sergio Ramos |
| 16 | Marcos Senna |
| 17 | Sanchez Joaquin |
| 18 | Cesc Fabregas |
| 19 | Santiago Canizares |
| 20 | Gutierrez Juanito |
| 21 | David Villa |
| 22 | Ibanez Pablo |
| 23 | Jose Manuel Reina |
Spain Soccer Team is playing in Group H along with Ukraine, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. The Spain Soccer is nicknamed La Furia. It has participated in the World Cup eleven times. But this time in Spain qualifying campaign was not very spectacular. Spain Soccer was in Group 7 alongwith Serbia and Montenegro, San Marino, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Lithuania. With not so fierce competition everyone was sure that Spain would top the group.
But the Serbia-Montenegro emerged as the Group winners. Spain as one of the six European runner-ups was paired with Slovakia in a play-off for the World Cup finals spot. A hat-trick from Luis Garcia and one goal each from Fernando Morientes and Fernando Torres helped Spain in defeating Slovakia 5-1 in the first leg of the play-offs. Four days later Spain suffered a 1-1 draw, but they had qualified for the finals.
This time it is Spain's eighth consecutive appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals and all in all it can be said that this time in Spain was celebration time. In 1974 they could not qualify for the Finals. Coincidentally, in that year the world cup was held on German soil. Spain's best performance at the FIFA World Cup was at Brazil in 1950. They finished at the fourth place.
Spain Soccer Team has been unlucky twice at the last-16 stage when they fell at USA 94 and again at South Korea/Japan 2002.
Coach Luis Aragones has rejuvenated his team by bringing in young players. The midfield duties have been assigned to Hernandez Xavi and Xabi Alonso. The pair of strikers Raul Gonzalez and Fernando Torres scored ten out of Spain's 25 qualifying goals (including the play-offs). Garcia, Iker Casillas, Michel Salgado, Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos and Asier del Horno are players to watch this FIFA season.
Spain's performance under coach Aragones has been noteworthy. Captain Gonzalez Raul is confident that with such a rich combination of players they will definitely leave a mark in Germany 2006.
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