Spain national football team

Full name : Spain national football team
Association : Real Federación, Española de Fútbol|
Nickname(s) : La Furia Roja (The Red Fury)
Head coach : Luis Aragonés
Captain : Iker Casillas
Top scorer : Raúl (44)


  The Spain national football team, commonly referred to as La Furia, is the national football team of Spain and is controlled by the Real Federación Española de Fútbol.

  Spain has a reputation for underachievement in the FIFA World Cup, with their best finish being fourth place in 1950 despite often being among the pre-tournament favourites. They often start well, but struggle considerably in the later stages, which is frustrating given the team's supposedly enormous talent and diligence. They are considered by some football's greatest underachievers. Their only senior level tournament victory is the 1964 European Championship, which they hosted. They also won the gold medal when they hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and in the 1999 World Youth Championship in Nigeria. Their current FIFA ranking is 4th.

History
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Early Years
  Spain made their international football debut in 1920 at the Olympic Games in Antwerp and won the silver medal. They played their first home international in 1921, beating Belgium 2-0 in Bilbao. They also became the first non-British side to beat England when they won 4-3 in a friendly in Madrid in 1929. Spain however did not enter the 1930 World Cup. Four years later, Spain qualified for the second World Cup in Italy in 1934 and progressed to the quarterfinals where the lost to Italy 1-0 in a replay after a 1-1 draw. The Spanish Civil War and World War II did not see Spain play a competitive match until the 1950 World Cup.
  They reached the final four-team group, consisting of the four group winners. The other winners were Brazil, Uruguay, and Sweden. Early success in the tournament eluded them as they gained only one point after losing to Brazil and Sweden and drawing with Uruguay. The 1950 World Cup would be Spain's best ever finish. After the 1950 World Cup Spain entered a period of football wildernes and did not make another major appearance until Euro 60.
  Under French-Argentine coach Helenio Herrera, Spain came out of a period of wilderness to qualify for the first European Championship in 1960. At Euro 60, Spain entered into the quarter finals and beat Poland 7-2 on aggregate. However, after a protest against the USSR, Spain was automatically knocked out of the competition.

Euro 2008 Qualifiers
  Spain started its qualifying round on September 2, 2006 for Euro 2008 by beating Liechtenstein 4-0 in Badajoz. But were then upset by Northern Ireland 3-2 in Belfast on September 6, 2006. A second straight defeat - a 2-0 loss to Sweden - followed on October 7, 2006. However a 2-1 win against Denmark on March 24, 2007 in Madrid along with a goal from Andrés Iniesta giving Spain a 1-0 victory at home to Iceland on March 28, 2007 has put new life into Spain's campaign. On June 2 they won 2-0 at Latvia and four days later they won against Liechtenstein 2-0. Both goals were scored by David Villa in that game. Spain's hopes for a 5-match winning streak were halted at Reykjavik, when Iceland held Spain to a 1-1 draw. Iniesta managed to save the point for Spain after he scored a late goal in that match. Their winning ways resumed at Oviedo, when Xavi and Torres gave Spain a 2-0 win against Latvia. Spain's next opponent was Denmark, who they defeated 3-1 at Aarhus, a result that is expected to be definitive for the Spanish team's chances to qualify for the final round of the European Championships. On November 18, 2007, Spain beat Sweden 3-0 with goals from Joan Capdevila, Andres Iniesta, and Sergio Ramos, qualifying themselves for Euro 2008. On 21 November, they got revenge on Northern Ireland by beating them 1-0, thereby ruining their chances of qualifying.