Spain national under-23 football team

The Spain 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 for the Olympics which allows the men's team up to three overage players. The team is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. Having qualified for five Olympic competitions since 1992, Spain has won one gold medal (1992) and one silver medal (2000). It is the second most successful Olympic team after Argentina. [2]

Spain Under-23
Nickname(s)La Rojita (The Little Red One)
La Furia Roja
(The Red Fury)
AssociationRoyal Spanish Football Federation
(Real Federación Española de Fútbol – RFEF)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Most capsLuis Enrique (14)
Top scorerKiko (7)
FIFA codeESP
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
Appearances4 (first in 1992)
Best resultWinners: 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

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. Meanwhile, communist nations entered their top professional teams using a loophole in the rules.

The team's final two tournaments came in 1976 and 1980, where they failed to make it out of the group stage, being powerless against first teams of the Eastern Bloc.

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 because they were the host nation. Expectations were high for the Spanish team and they did not disappoint: The team was able to win their 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 their 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
1992 Gold medalists 1st 6 6 0 0 14 2 Squad
1996 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 1 1 5 7 Squad
2000 Silver medalists 2nd 6 4 1 1 12 6 Squad
2004Did not qualify
2008
2012 Group stage 14th 3 0 1 2 0 2 Squad
2016Did not qualify
2020Qualified
TotalGold medalists4/71912343117
  • Denotes draws including knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
  • Gold background color indicates first-place finish. Silver background color indicates second-place finish.
  • Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Mediterranean Games

Mediterranean Games record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA
2005 Gold medalists 1st 431091
Total1 Gold medal1/1431091

Player records

Top appearances

Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-23 Caps
1Luis EnriqueSporting Gijón, Real Madrid1991–199214
2Mikel LasaReal Sociedad, Real Madrid1991–199213
3AbelardoSporting Gijón1991–199212
 Pep GuardiolaBarcelona1991–199212
 KikoCádiz1991–199212
 Roberto SolozábalAtlético Madrid1991–199212
7AlfonsoReal Madrid1991–199211
 Paco SolerMallorca1991–199211
9JoaquínSporting Gijón1979–19828
 Juan Manuel AsensiElche, Barcelona1969–19718
 Rafael BergesCórdoba, Tenerife1991–19928
 ToniFigueres19928
 Antonio PinillaMallorca1991–19928

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
1AlfonsoReal Madrid1991–19926
3AbelardoSporting Gijón1991–19925
4Ramón VázquezSevilla1987–19884
5GabriBarcelona20003
 Luis EnriqueSporting Gijón, Real Madrid1991–19923
 Carles RexachCondal, Barcelona1967–19703
 José MariMilan20003
 VaváElche19673

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

Honours

Summer Olympics

  • Gold medalists: 1992
  • Silver medalists: 2000

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
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